A New Beginning
by Eve-Kataanger
Summary: Even though the war is now over, doesn't mean that the story has ended. Oh no, it's still just begun. The Avatar still has work to do, nothing is just going to fall into place in this new world. They still have to deal with the aftermath of a century long war. Rebels, insane princesses, spirit madness, and assassins are just the beginning of it all.
1. Chapter 1: Reunion

**Yay! First real chapter is now posted! I wonder if I'm ever going to get used to posting stuff like this, it's sorta confusing me. But I think I'm starting to get the hang of it! Please review!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender, if I did the show probably wouldn't be half as good as it is now.**

* * *

"Don't you think that they should be back by now?" She asks the man sitting next to her.

"Well, it's only been a day…" He states, sighing for the third time that morning.

"Well I'm sorry for worrying about them." She snaps, standing up. She begins to pace back and forth, slightly leaning forward as she walks with her hands clasped behind her back.

"It's just that the night he disappeared I was fighting with him and I knew that I should have gone after him…" She begins to ramble. "What if he didn't fight him? What if he lost? What if he's hurt, or lost. He could be dead right now! And what about Sokka, Suki and Toph? We could be just waiting for our deaths right now! The fleet could be on their way here right now, with Oz-"

She gets cut off from a hand clamping on her mouth. "Would you stop your rambling? You're not helping anyone by talking yourself into negative thoughts." Zuko states, releasing her mouth. She continues to pace back and forth, nibbling her lower lip in worry.

"And stop pacing! You're giving me a headache." He sighs again, sitting back down and holding his head with both hands.  
Katara glances at him briefly before sitting down in the lotus tile position at the edge of the steps leading into the courtyard, destroyed from the Agni Kai the previous night between brother and sister.

She starts tapping her finger against her knee, trying to rid herself of the extra energy she mysteriously gained.  
Suddenly, a small speck begins to form far off in the distance. Katara immediately leaps to her feet. "Do you see that?!" She asks Zuko, who has now followed her gaze towards the sky.

"Yeah…" He states slowly, rising to his feet.

"Do you think it's them?" She asks, clutching her left elbow in her right hand as the speck begins to get closer and form into a slightly damaged warship.  
"I hope so, because I believe neither of us are in much condition to put up much of a fight, especially with my father." He says as the warship starts closing in. "To late to run too."

She nods once, sharply, her eyes locked on the ship as it slowly descends towards the two.

They both hold their breath as it loudly lands in the courtyard. Instantly Katara's hands go to her waterskin, popping the top of silently, water ready if needed.

The ramp seems to go down in slow motion as the two wait for their fates the be revealed. The sound of metal hitting stone rings through the courtyard as the hissing sounds of the engine dying start to go silent. Suddenly two figures appear within the shadows of the ship, slowly making their way out.

"Sokka!" Instantly she gets out of the battle stance and replaces the cap on the waterskin as she runs towards her brother, who was leaning heavily on Suki with an arm across her shoulders. Standing with one leg held off the ground, Sokka smiles warmly to his sister, inwardly sighing in relief knowing that she was okay.

Katara stops herself from almost barreling into her brother once she notices the state that he's in. "Oh my spirits, what happened?" She asks, bending down to exam his held up leg.

"Oh, nothing much. Just leaping across flying airships and stuff. No biggie." He says sarcastically, waving a hand shooing her away. Toph then appears from within the metal ship, smirking in Zuko's direction.

"Hey Sparky, we brought you a present!" She says, her blind eyes shining brightly. She gets into an Earthbending stance and digs the heel of her foot into the ground, forcing something metal to come towards her.

Ozai staggers forward, being pulled by the metal cuffs encasing his hands. Katara gasps at the sight of him, while Zuko looks up in anger towards the small girl.

"Why did you bring him back here?! He could kill all of us!" He states angrily, waving his hands up to add to the effect.

Toph just blows lazily at her bangs, acting as if he was stating something that held no importance. "Relax, he can't harm us. Don't blow a fuse." She says dryly, walking the rest of the length of the plank towards the solid ground.

"What do you mean he can't hurt us? He's the most powerful firebender in the world!" Katara says, surprising herself when she didn't stumble over her words.

Toph just waves a hand towards Katara, her eyes closed. "Not anymore he's not." She simply states.

Katara and Zuko go silent, both not sure how to respond. Something clicks into place in Zuko's mind, however, as he realizes what Ozai being here means.

"How did you guys defeat my father?" He asks slowly, his eyes wondering over the three from the ship.

Everyone looks at him, Katara's mouth slightly open when she too realized this. Her mouth suddenly goes dry when the three are silent.

"We didn't." Suki states dryly.

Katara is afraid to ask who did, noticing how no one else was coming from the ship, so Zuko said it instead. "Where is he then?"

Silence. Then suddenly, Toph smirks. Then Sokka starts to try and hold back a laugh, failing miserably. The corners of Suki's lips start to go up. The three then burst out laughing.

"You…two should…..should see…your faces!" Sokka gasps between laughs, holding his stomach with his free hand.

"I knew we couldn't do it! It's impossible to keep a straight face with you like that Sugar Queen!" Toph says, her laughter dying down. She straightens up and takes a deep breath, trying to calm herself. "He's asleep in the captains chambers. I was surprised he was still standing when we got to him, he felt like he was dead on his feet. I could barely even tell it was him." She shrugs.

Katara takes off past the small group, up into the ship. She heads towards the front of the ship, towards where she thinks is the captains chambers. She slows down when she spots a door that says 'Captain' on a name plate.

Quietly, she pushes the door open and peeks inside. The room is dark except for a few candles lit, the flames lazily blowing in the fresh air from the door. Her eyes scan the room, finally landing on the bed and the small form lying on it.

She breaths a deep sigh of relieve once she sees his chest slightly rising and falling underneath the blanket.

Quietly, she slips into the room and slides the door shut, wincing when the click of it closing echoes slightly around the metal room. She silently walks over to the bed and the sleeping figure, sitting on the edge of it when she reached it. The hard mattress shifted slightly under her weight.

She looks at his face, taking in how it was dirt streaked and how peaceful he looked. She also noticed the slight burns that he had, mostly along his arms. She felt her eyes begin to sting with the coming of tears. She took a deep breath, swallowing the lump forming her throat back down along with the threat of tears.

She took in how many bruises he had, they were everywhere that she could see. She had the urge to take out her water and heal him, wishing to make his pain go away. She ignored it, instead she settled to just watching him.

She was barely aware that she was leaning forward, but she really didn't care. She wanted to be able to see his eyes, his storm grey eyes. And yet she didn't want to wake him, she couldn't bring herself to wake him up. He just looked so peaceful….

Suddenly, he took a deep breath and shot upwards, making their foreheads slam together. She hadn't even realized that her face was hovering right above his.

They both jumped in surprise, a deep red brush painted across both their faces.

"Katara!" He said suddenly, his eyes widening. "Wh-what are you d-doing here?" He asks, stumbling over his words once he realized that she her face was still right above his.

"I was….um, coming to see if you needed your wounds healed?" She said, quickly coming up with a lie. He seemed to believe it because he nodded once, blush still bright on his face, even in the dim lighting. She then realized why and quickly straightened up so she wasn't hovering over him, blush almost matching his.

Aang sat up, angling his body so Katara couldn't see his back. He could feel his scar, it was broken open and throbbing with pain, but he ignored it and tried to hide it. He didn't want to burden Katara with it, she looked exhausted.

"Thanks Katara, but I'm fine." He stated, his stomach felt like there was a rock in it, lying to her. "Really." He confirmed when she gave him a look, eyeing his burns and bruises.

Her eyebrows knitted together. He was lying to her, she just knew it. But she couldn't figure out why he would lie. She'll ask him later.  
He saw that look in her eye: she didn't believe him. They waited together in silence, neither of them speaking. Once he realized that she wasn't going to question him, he grabbed the blanket that was barely covering his feet now and wrapped it around his shoulders.

"Let's go and see everyone else, shall we?" He said, standing up. Instantly, he felt a dizziness sweep over him and he felt like he was going to fall, but he took a deep breath and tried to ignore it, willing himself not the fall as he walked past her. She followed him more slowly, and he could tell something was bothering her, but he didn't ask.

Something was wrong, she could feel it in her bones. The way that he had turned at an odd angle, how he had pulled the blanket over his shoulders, how he paused when he stood, he wasn't even walking the same, but she couldn't put her finger on what was off about it.  
Instead, she made lame answers to her questions. He was probably startled that she had been there. He was probably cold, he wasn't wearing a shirt. He stood up to fast, making him light head. But no matter how many different answers she came up with for that last little thing, none of them seemed to work for it. Nothing.

Something was wrong. And she knew why he wasn't telling her.

She had rejected him, ran away. On that balcony at that horrible play. He was probably just trying to hold himself together. He was heartbroken. Trying to cope with his feelings of rejection.

And she hated herself for causing him this.

Of course, that wasn't the case, but how could she know any different?

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**So, what did you think? I just couldn't resist putting that little bit about them trying to convince Katara and Zuko that Aang was dead. I thought that it was terrible, but my friend thought it was funny. *shrugs* Oh well. Review please!**


	2. 2 Heavy Footfalls

**Hey! Sorry this chapter isn't as long as the last one, but I just really wanted to post it. Not entirely sure why though.**

**Anyway, I'm so excited! People are actually reading this! And I already got a review too! Thank you bellafan22!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender. The only thing close to it that I have is that I own the first season on disk :)**

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Toph

As Katara hurried away into the ship, I noticed that Zuko was still facing in my direction. "What?" I snap at him, still facing towards the ship.  
I felt him jump, which he rarely did.

He cleared his throat, "Well, I was just wondering what you meant by my father not being able to bend anymore." He said, his voice didn't waver once. Although, I could tell by his heart rate he was slightly in shock from the statement.

"He just can't. I couldn't see what happened to him. I was in a floating hunk of metal." I scoffed, sitting down on the hard stone.

"I could tell you. It was amazing! I'll start at the beginning of the fight, Toph had just launched us up at one of the ships because the fleet had started taking off. After we had taken it over and dumped the crew into the water, we had just reached the edge of the Earth Kingdom." Sokka started telling the story.

"Right when the comet started to come into view, Ozai started to unleash his fire power onto the forest below. Then there was this huge blast of fire that struck the side of his ship and it started to go down." He continued.

"That was when his ship had just reached these giant pillars of rock that were there too." Suki added.

As this continued, Toph was trying to focus on the vibrations inside of the ship. They were very faint, but still there. After about 5 minutes or so, she tuned back into the conversation the three were now having.

"-although I have no idea how this is going to continue. Azula is defeated and insane, Ozai can no longer firebend…." Zuko trailed off.  
"Well, for starters, you're going to have to become Fire Lord. No matter how much I hate this nation, no offense, we can't leave it without a ruler. Then it would probably end badly for everyone." Sokka pointed out.

I was pretty sure that Zuko had glared at him for that 'hating the Fire Nation' comment, although I couldn't be sure.

Suddenly I felt a pair of footsteps walking through the ship, heading towards the entrance. They seemed familiar, and yet I couldn't place them until they had almost reached the opening. "Hey Aang, how ya feeling?" Sokka asked, spotting the boy leaving the ship.

I was shocked. Something must have been wrong. Something must have been really, really wrong.

I was barely aware of Zuko telling Aang 'well done' as he came up to our little group until I felt Aang's heartbeat sky rocket. Zuko was standing next to Aang and had clapped him on the back. I felt him wince and how he had almost doubled over in pain, but no one else seemed to notice.

"I think I'm going to go and see Appa." Aang declared after he had thanked Zuko half-heartedly. As he walked off, it was once again brought to my attention that something was wrong.

For one, Katara still hadn't come off the ship, I was so sure that she wouldn't have let Aang out of her sight for at least two weeks after we got back. Two, Sokka said something about how Aang had had a blanket wrapped around him. Three, I could tell from the 12 yard distance that Aang's heartbeat was still going way to fast then it should have been. And the last thing was that he no longer felt like he was walking on air, like he normally did, even when he was exhausted.

No, it seemed as if he was never even and Airbender. He wasn't even walking with that swift gracefulness that made it seem as if he were the wind blowing itself. His movements seemed stiff and restrained.

It was probably just because he was tired right? Yeah, that had to be it. Nothing was wrong with him at all, just needs some more sleep after taking down the Loser Lord.

* * *

Aang

Every step I took I could feel my broken scar stretch. It was sending a sharp, but bearable, pain throughout my entire body.  
I held the blanket tighter around my body, my knuckles white from clutching it to hard.

I noticed that as I made my way through the ship that Katara wasn't right behind me like she was when we had just left the room. But I didn't stop. If I stopped and let her catch up, then she might notice that I'm hurt far worse then burns and bruises. So I continued on.

As I emerged from the ship, I heard Sokka ask if I was feeling ok. I just gave him a small smile as I walked up to my group of friends at the end of the ramp.

"Nice job Aang." Zuko said, coming to stand next to me. He clapped me firmly on my back, right where my open wound was. I barely managed not to double over from the burning fire of white hot pain that it sent through me.

"Thanks…" I murmured to him, blinking twice to try and remove the black spots that had come into my vision. I spotted Appa some yards away from the small group and quickly made an excuse to go and see him.

I could feel Toph's gaze on my back, drilling holes into me as I walked away towards the bison.

* * *

Katara

I quickly fell behind from Aang at his quick pace. I didn't bother to catch up. He was mad at me, I knew he was.

And yet, a voice inside of my head was screaming at me that something was wrong. Something was very, very wrong with Aang, and it didn't have to deal with anyone.

I just hadn't figured it out yet.

As I walked back down the metal ramp leading to the courtyard, I noticed that Aang was over by Appa, and that the rest of my friends were bunched together a little ways away from the ramp.

As I joined them, I couldn't help but notice everyone expressions. Toph had a look of panic written over her young face, Zuko looked confused, Sokka was glancing nervously at Toph, and Suki was glazing at me with a questioning look.

"What?" I asked her, wanting her heated gaze off me.

"What's wrong?" Toph asked as Suki opened her mouth the responded to me.

I shot a glance her way, knowing that it didn't do much good. "What do you mean?" I lied. I knew exactly what she meant. She was asking me about Aang.

"Drop the act Sugar Queen, you know exactly what I mean." She snapped. I sensed the hint a panic that was in her voice, and it was starting to worry me.

"I don't know, he seems to be giving me a cold shoulder." I stated, looking away from the group.

"Same here." Zuko said, looking over towards Aang and Appa. Aang was currently saying something to him, but he was to far away to hear it clearly enough to understand it. Even Toph couldn't make it out word for word.

"Well, something is wrong. Aang isn't acting like, um well…Aang." Sokka states, not knowing exactly how to put it. Everyone still understood what he meant by it though. Aang wasn't acting like himself, and they all had to wonder why.

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**Hi again! I just wanted to warn you that during the week I probably won't be updating as much because of school, and school kills my creative thinking for writing fanfiction most of the time. :(**


	3. 3 Memory Kiss

**Hello again! I'd like again that bellafan22 for reviewing! I'm starting to think that maybe I should just set a date that I'll update, like maybe once every two days? Because I think that updating right after I finish a chapter isn't going to go well for very long. Please tell me what you think!**

**Disclaimer: I, Eve-Kataanger, only use take the characters and ideas from Avatar: The Last Airbender to write fanfiction. Not in any way, shape or form do I ever claim to own it. Nor do I make money off of writing fanfiction for it.**

* * *

Katara

That night I couldn't help but think about Aang. He was acting weird all day yesterday. I understand that he had just defeated the Firelord and all, but I thought that he would be happy. The war is finally over! No more running, no more fighting.

But he seemed as skittish as ever, even more now that I think about it. So I decided that I should go and talk to him.  
As I neared his door in the Fire Nation palace, I couldn't help but hesitate. He's probably asleep, it's the middle of the night for Spirits sake! I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself.

Something could be wrong. The possibilities were close to endless. What if he was hiding something. Wait, of course he was hiding something, but what? Maybe he had to give up bending one of the elements to take away Ozai's fire bending. But which one?

It would most likely be fire bending. He never seemed to like it much after he burn me. Plus, taking away fire bending from one could mean that be had to give it up too.

But what if it had to be his birth element? Toph did say earlier when they were alone that he wasn't light on his feet like he normally was.  
I reached my hand up and knocked softly on his door. I had to know what was wrong. It was killing me inside.

As I waited and listened for any movement inside the room, I couldn't help but notice that my hands were shaking slightly. I took a deep, slow breath, trying to calm them. It didn't work very well.

I knocked again, a little harder this time. Still no answer.

"Aang?" I called softly. I knocked again. I heard the soft sound of fabric being moved. Then the heavy patter of bare feet against stone floors. Wait, but that wasn't right. Aang's feet had always been so soft and light against the ground. Toph's comment about his walking crept back into my thoughts, much to my dislike.

The door silently swung open and there stood Aang. He was still dressed in the same trousers that he had been wearing when he fought Ozai, but now he was wearing a dark red Fire Nation shirt. It was clearly to big on him.

"Can I come in?" I asked, smiling shyly. He just nodded and stepped out of the way, closing the door behind me.

"Is something wrong, Katara?" He asked, his head tilted slightly to right as I sat down in one of the chairs up against the wall. I just nodded, not sure how to word my worries.

He waited patiently for me to collect my thoughts, gazing worriedly at me. "What's wrong?" I asked suddenly. The quick flash in his storm grey eyes clearly told me that I had caught him off guard.

He paused for a moment before speaking. "What do you mean? Nothing's wrong." He wasn't looking at me. I felt hurt, but not entirely sure why.

"Something's wrong, and I want to know what it is." I state quickly, standing up from the chair.

"It's nothing really, I'm just a little unnerved with the thought of the war actually being over." He replied, not missing a beat. He still wasn't looking at me though.

So instead of pointing out that he was lying, I took a step closer to him. I'll just try to coax it out of him. "Yeah, it is pretty unnerving. No more running, no fighting, no training. And no more worrying about if we'll live to see the next day."

He glanced at me, looking a bit surprised, but he quickly recovered. "Yeah, it's just now there's all this different stuff that we have to do, and we don't even know where to start!" He glanced at me. Only once though.

"I guess that we could all go back home, but I'm not really sure if I want too." He glanced at me again. "It's not like I don't miss the South Pole, I do, but I just don't think I can go back and live there." I gazed at him, waiting for him to absorb this information.

He nodded, but still didn't look directly at me. "Perhaps because you like to travel?" He guessed. I just shrugged. "Traveling is fun, and now that there isn't a rush to do anything major, we could actually enjoy the trips we take places."

"Like the that endless double rainbow those nomads told us about?" He questioned, a small smile on his face. I returned this smile. "Yeah, stuff light that…" I thought for a moment. "Maybe we could be back through Oma and Shu's cave again and look at the tomb. We have two earthbenders with us." I add, blushing a bit when I remembered what happened in that cave.

He looked at me fully this time, shock reflected in his eyes, along with something else that I couldn't quite place. A blush was also on his face, although I could barely tell it was there with the dim lighting. "Y-Yeah." Aang stuttered.

I smiled again. He was starting to act like the old Aang again, blushing whenever I made little comments like that. Back then I didn't know why, but now I do.

He loved me. He had admitted that to me that night on the balcony of the play. My blush deepened at the memory.

We were both silently for quiet some time, neither knowing what to say. I decided now would be as good of time as any to ask him again. "Are you sure nothing else is bothering you?" I whispered, although I wasn't sure why I did.

He looked at me again, I could tell he was actually thinking it over. He opened his mouth, then closed it again. Shaking his head, he said, "No, it's not important at the moment. I'll tell you some other time."

I gave him a sad smile and nodded. "Well, we should probably get some sleep then, shouldn't we?" I asked, he nodded. We both said our goodnights and I left, closing the door quietly behind me.

As I walked back to my room, I sighed. My mind was whirling with different questions, and I didn't have any answers to them. He said he'll tell me a different time, that it wasn't important.

He was probably just trying to reassure me, but all it did was make me worry more. As I walked into my room and laid down on the soft bed, I fell into a restless sleep, trying to figure out what he wasn't telling me.

* * *

Aang

I let out the breath I had been holding as I heard Katara's footsteps stop echoing in the hall. The look that she had given me before she left made my heart break a little. She wasn't demanding that I told her, even though I could clearly tell that it was bothering her.

I couldn't help but wonder why she had brought up The Cave of Two Lovers. I felt myself blush yet again as the memory of that moment came back as if it had only happened moments ago.

_"We're going to run out of light any minute now, aren't we?" I asked Katara, looking down at the nearly burnt out torch in my hand. _

_"I think so." She says quietly, looking over at me._

_"Then what are we going to do?" I ask, looking back to her azure blue eyes._

_"What can we do?" She questions, walking the few steps over to me. She places her hand on mine so we were both holding the torch. Her hand felt so soft and warm._

_We both started leaning towards each other as the torch beneath us starts to go out. When it does, I felt her lips brush against mine. I didn't know what to think at all._

_Her lips were so soft, I felt like I was in heaven, even with just that little brush of the lips. Then suddenly, the cave gets lit up with a soft green light. We both look up and see glowing green crystals on the ceiling, leading a path out of the cave._

_I sighed. I don't think I would mind going back to that cave. Even though I probably won't ever to get kiss her again, we could at least go to the spot where she had suggested in._

And if I wasn't being so stupid, we probably would have had more of a kiss then just the soft brush of our lips.

As my thoughts continued to wonder, I flopped onto my stomach on the bed, being careful of the movement on my back. It didn't really hurt anymore, it just ached. Or sometimes when I turned to fast it would flare up in pain.

I wondered again why I didn't just tell Katara so it could be healed. It could get infected. It did come into complete contact with rock.  
But I didn't want to bother her with the same wound that she had been treating for over three weeks, even if that was months ago. I would just let it heal up on it's own, and if it did get worse, then I would tell her.


	4. 4 View of the Enemy

**Hey everyone! I just got a new computer and I'm trying to get use to the keyboard, and the Mircosoft that I use to type my stories, so if this one seems a little less formal, I blame that! I'd like to thank my reviewers! I now have 6! Yay! Thank you bellafan22, SamanthaUnicorns, anonimo, and Guest!**

* * *

Azula

How could they do this? To _me. _The new Firelord! It's all Zuko's fault and that little water tribe filth of a girl. Now I'm bond and tied in metal, being shipped off to some mental institution for insane people.

But I'm not insane, no no my friends. Mother has just gotten to them, I'm not sure how, but I will figure it out!

She made then all turn against me, she told them how to beat me! It's all her fault! She wants me gone, I'm just a monster in her eyes. That's all I'll ever be to her!

I laugh at the stupidity of it all. Zuzu as Firelord! Ha! He wouldn't last a day. He doesn't have the guts to rule this Nation.

Soon he'll come crawling back to me, begging to put him out of his misery. But I won't. I'll let him do it himself.

I feel the metal cart come to a stop, then the doors creak open and sunlight streams in. I smirk, blinking at the sudden brightness.

They pull me out of the cool cart and into the blistering heat of the sun. They set me in a wheelchair, then they just leave.

A thin girl then emerges from the main building. As she walks over, I notice that she was wearing a soft cream color dress and that her hair was tied in a high ponytail.

"Princess Azula." She bows to me. At least she knows her place.

She then pushes me in the wheelchair up the ramp and into the building. It was must cooler outside, and it smelled like lilies. It was mostly soft colors that was around the room, the walls were a dark cream, the furniture was a light shade of red.

She pushed me down a long hallway and stops in front of a dark colored door. The only one in the hallway, I noticed.

The room inside was very nice, the same dark colors and bed as my old room. The only difference was that there were bars on the small window, which was placed up to high to reach alone, no sharp objects, and nothing that I could easily break or burn.

She removed my metal bindings and left me alone in my new room. I sat down on the bed and glanced around, noticing that there wasn't even a dresser. Just a bed, a desk, a small table, and some chairs.

I laughed again. This was going to be very dull indeed.

* * *

Katara

That morning at breakfast, I noticed that the only person that was really eating was Sokka. And he wasn't even eating as much as he normally did. Everyone could feel how tense it was in the room.

No one knew what was going to happen next. Yes, we had a basic plan. That was about it though.

1. Zuko became Firelord. We were already working on that. The ceremony takes place in about two weeks. People from all over the Earth Kingdom and Watertribes were going to be attending.

2. Then Sokka, Aang, Toph and I had decided that we were going to travel to some of the places that we had been on during our journey, starting with the South Pole, ending at the North. Then it was back to the Fire Nation, just to check up on the places we visited.

That was about all we had so far. We still had two weeks to wait before we could go and start traveling again. I suppose Aang could continue his fire bending practice, maybe some earth. He had already mastered water though.

I sighed, remembering all the lessons that we had had. I had always looked forward to Waterbending with Aang, because Sokka and Toph would never bother us, so it was always just the two of us...

I smiled, perhaps we could still practice together. I could just say it was to freshen up on his Waterbending. They would believe that right? Yes, I think it would.

But what about Toph? I could just tell them when she leaves, yeah. Yeah, that would work.

I picked up a peach from the bowl on the middle of the table and bit into the soft skin of it, letting the sweet juices from it sit in my mouth for a bit before swallowing.

After a few minutes, Zuko and Mai both leave. They were going to go and get a robe fitted for Zuko. Then it was Suki who left, probably to go and scot out the castle again.

Sokka followed after her after he grabbed his plate and put some more meat on it. Aang then got up and declared that he was going to go and meditate. Prefect.

After a few more minutes, I said that I was going to go to my room. Toph shot me a glare, but I ignored it and continued to walk.

I didn't even bother trying to detour around so Toph didn't know where I was going. I just headed straight to his room. As I neared the door, my thoughts drifted away from Waterbending and back to our conversation the night before.

I then started thinking that maybe now he would tell me what was wrong. He seemed so, nervous. Like he's hiding some big secret. I do suppose that Aang can overreact sometimes. But what if it was his bending...

I shook my head fiercely, trying to shake the thoughts from my head. He had said that it wasn't that important, and bending is important!

I now stood in front of his door, but instead of knocking I just quietly and slowly opened the door.

"Aang?" I called out. His room was dark, the curtains were drawn over the windows. He sat with his back facing me, in front of him were four candles, the only source of light in the room.

When I said his name, he looked over his shoulder at me. No surprise showed on his face at all. Of course, he probably sensed me coming with earthbending.

"Something wrong, Katara?" He asked innocently. I gave him a small smile and slipped fully into the room, closing the door behind me.

"No, I was just wondering if you maybe wanted to come and waterbend with me for a bit?" I asked just as innocently. Fear flashed quickly through his eyes, so quickly that I thought I had imagined it.

"Thank you, but I think that I'll pass." He said after a few moments of silence. I waited for him to give an explanation of why he can't, but he just turned back to the candles.

I felt a sharp pain go through my heart. "Ok then..." I said quietly. I turned back around and opened the door. I stepped back out into the warm hallway. I couldn't really think of why he would refuse like that.

Whenever someone offered to bend with him, he would always drop what he was doing. But maybe it was because the war was over, or that he had already mastered waterbending.

* * *

Aang

I could pretty much see the sadness and hurt in her eyes, even though I wasn't looking at her. And the sadness in her voice, I could literally feel my heart break in two. Guilt was clawing at my stomach. I could tell how much it was bothering her that I wasn't telling her what was wrong.

But I wanted to do this without help. Let my body heal naturally. I couldn't rely on Katara or my friends anymore. They would all be going home and then it'll just be me. I need to start acting more independent. Relying on myself. I can't let my friends be burdened with my problems. Being a now fully realized Avatar, I'm going to have to be traveling everywhere all the time.

I sighed. I hope I'll at least have time to visit everyone. I shake my head a few times, trying to clear it again. I was trying to meditate, and thinking about stuff like that wasn't going to help.


	5. 5 Without A Trace

**Hello everyone! Thank you all for reviewing! I'd just like to say that I know that this one is really short, but I'm going to try and post another chapter tonight! Or early tomorrow, (I'm going to set an alarm!)**

**Disclaimer: I do not, nor ever will, own Avatar: The Last Airbender**

* * *

Aang

I ended my meditation a few hours after Katara left. Now I was standing in front of the full body mirror that was in my room with the door locked. Slowly, I lifted my shirt over my head, being careful not to strain my wound.

I dropped the red shirt on the floor and turned around so I could see my back in the mirror. I could see the blue line of my tattoos and where the scar started. The scar itself was still broken open, but it wasn't bleeding like it had been all day yesterday.

I could see the dried blood at the center of the scar, and it looked swelled. I looked over it carefully. I didn't see any infection in it, so that was a good sign, considering I couldn't wash it very good.

I walked over to the bathroom and started searching for some bandages to wrap the wound in to decrease the chance of infection. I didn't find any. So instead I just slowly waterbent some soapy water over it to try and clean it.

I watched the bloody water go down the drain, then I slowly pulled my shirt back on. The last time I needed was for my scar to break open again.

I had also decided that I shouldn't bend, probably not at all. The movement or the lack of chi flowing through my body could be bad for my health. I debated whether or not I should tell Katara.

If I did, she would probably insist that she healed it, and I knew that I couldn't refuse her. Even if I did try and explain that I wanted it to heal on its own, she wouldn't back down. Katara was just that kind of person.

As I left my room and headed to the Firelord's private dining hall for lunch, I tried to use a bit of airbending to lighten my step. I noticed that Toph was giving me funny looks, and I figured that this was the reason why.

Normally, my steps would be light because I was subconsciously airbending, adding the lightness to my step. Now I had to focus on it because of my weakened state. Since most of my chi was trying to heal my wound, that is.

As I entered the room, I noticed that no one was there. I looked out the window. The sun was high in the sky. So where was everyone?

So instead I just grabbed an apple from the bowl that was always present on the table and walked out to the royal gardens. Perhaps someone was there.

I walked into the gardens. It was dead silent. Not even the turtle-ducks that were always swimming in the pond were gone. The wind wasn't even blowing.

"Now that's strange." I say out loud to no one. I instantly remember saying that the first time I came to the capital city, during the invasion. I quickly wondered if something was wrong and everyone was in the secret bunker underneath the city.

But someone would have came and got me, wouldn't they? Maybe someone did, but I was to lost in meditation? Or when I was cleaning my wound and I had locked my door?

My friends wouldn't have gone without me though. Or maybe they had already forgotten me. The thought left my head the second it entered, they would never do that to me. So I continued to wonder the palace munching on my apple as I continued to search.

For a minute I pondered the thought that I had accidently entered the spirit world, so I went back to my room. My body wasn't there.

So I took a deep breath and shot a blast of air. My bending worked. Perhaps this was all a really realistic dream? I pinched myself. Nope, I felt it.

So I continued to wonder the palace, searching every inch of it. By the time I was finished, it was already dusk. I decided to skip dinner and just went straight to my room.

As I angrily flopped down onto my bed, I wondered where everyone could have gone. It was like the entire palace had just vanished. Like I was the only person in the world. The only noises that I could hear were the ones I made myself.

As I drifted to sleep, I wondered if maybe a spirit had gotten into my mind while I was meditating, and if I should try and contact Roku. I decided I'd do it in the morning, whether or not everyone was back or not.

* * *

**I'm sorta guessing that this is cliffhanger. Not really sure. But I will post another chapter soon, so you won't have to wait for long!**


	6. 6 Familiar Spirit

**Hello again! Just like I promised, a new chapter in the morning! It was a pain to think of how to get to where I needed to be for this chapter, but it was still pretty fun to write!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own ATLA**

* * *

Katara

It was the day after I had asked Aang if he had wanted to waterbend with me, and he hasn't come out of his room since. I was wondering if he was ok as I walked to meet everyone for breakfast at the Firelord's private dining room.

I greeted everyone with a 'Good morning' and all I got back was a bunch of mumbles. "Well, you guys are sure in a joyful mood this morning." I say sarcastically, crossing my arms over my chest.

All I got was a glare from my brother.

I then noticed that Aang wasn't at the table, yet again. He had missed lunch and dinner yesterday, and when I had went to his room to give him something to eat, it was locked.

Worry started to enter my mind. "Has anyone seen Aang?" I asked cautiously. Sokka paused in his eating, Toph's eyes widened, Suki looked up from her plate, Zuko stiffened, and Mai hadn't joined us yet.

It seemed as if time had stopped for a few moments, then everyone was running for the hallway towards Aang's room.

As we all neared the door, Toph warned us to stop. She then knelt down to her knee and placed her hand firmly against the ground. We all waited around her, wondering what she was doing.

"He's in there. It feels like he's meditating though." She whispered. We all walked quietly up to his door after that, trying not to be too loud. It was quite hard with 5 people though.

I knocked lightly on his door and we waited for a response. Nothing. I knocked louder. Silence.

Toph pushed past me and banged on the door four times. It echoed in the hallway, but there still wasn't a response. She did it again, yelling "OPEN UP TWINKLETOES!"

Toph stamped her foot on the ground, clearly frustrated. After a few moments of silence, Toph asked, "Can I just knock the door down?"

We all looked at Zuko. He thought over it for a second or two, then nodded. More silence and waiting, but now everyone was looking at Toph. Zuko then said, "Go ahead."

I wondered why he said it even though he had nodded before it hit me. Blind, duh. It could be so easy to forget sometimes!

In three quick moves, the door was knocked clean off its hinges and was lying on the ground in front of us. "Uh, Toph? I think you overdid it..." Sokka states, staring in awe at the demolished door. Toph just shrugged and stepped around the beaten door.

Aang was sitting there in the middle of the room, the candles that he had had lit yesterday were completely burned out, but he just sat there, still in the lotus tile position.

The only thing that struck it odd was that his eyes were open. As Zuko and Sokka got some more candles lit, I noticed that not only were his eyes open, but they had a glassy look to them.

I instantly reeled backwards in surprise, which caused me to knock into Toph, who got knocked into Suki, who smashed into Sokka, who was just setting down another candle to be lit.

He slammed into the stone flooring, causing everyone to laugh at the look that he gave to everyone. As he scrambled back up, he immediately tripped again and landed on a his stomach in a chair, which set everyone off again in laughter.

Zuko was the first one to stop laughing. He then straighten up and walked over to Aang, who hadn't moved at all since this had happened. He sat down in front of him and examined his eyes. He too, gave a look of surprise.

By this time everyone had stopped laughing and had walked over to join him.

"What's wrong with Twinkletoes?" Toph asked, not being able to see the problem.

"His eyes...they look like marble or something." Sokka told her, tilting his head without breaking his gaze from Aang's eyes. "And that's bad, right?" Toph asked, not really getting the problem.

"It could be, probably is." He said slowly. He then turned to me. "Do you think you're healing magic could fix this?" He asked me. I glared at him. "It's not magic!" I scoffed at him, but still did as he suggested.

I pulled some water from a vase on the small table in the room. It encased my hands and glowed a soft, blue light. I gently put my water-coated hands to his head, trying to feel his chi paths.

"Something's not right, but it doesn't seem to be... Maybe it's a wound?" I thought out loud, moving my hands slowly down to his chest. The connection was blocked. His shirt was in the way.

"Sokka, help me with this." I said, placing the water into the vase once again so my hands were free. Sokka and I managed to lift the red shirt off of Aang with only a little trouble, considering his body seemed to be made of stone.

I noticed something red caught my eye on his back after the shirt was removed. I stood and walked behind him, and gasped.

There, the scar that Azula had given him. It looked as if it had been broken open. It was slightly swelled and when I touched in lightly, it felt warm. It was also an angry red color. By then everyone besides Toph were standing behind me, shocked at seeing the wound.

"Oh Spirits, this must have been why he was being so weird! I knew that he was hiding something!" Sokka whispered, mostly to himself it seemed. I nodded anyways.

"I wonder why he didn't say anything? It looks really painful." Suki said, voicing everyone's thoughts.

"What? What's wrong?" Expect Toph. Suki went over to her and whispered in her ear about the wound, even though no one really had to whisper. It was like we were all afriad to disturb something, but not entirely sure what.

I pulled the water back out from the vase and set to work healing the scar, my mind drifting to different thoughts.

Zuko had a pained expression on his face. "What's wrong?" I asked him, not even glancing up from my work. "Its just that when he return I clapped him on the back to congratulate him, and I'm pretty sure that I hit him on his scar." He said.

Toph picked her head up after he said this, "Yeah, you did. His heart spiked almost as fast as when Sugar Queen pecks him on his cheek." I glared at her, even though it was useless.

I dropped the water and looked over my work. It was still red, but not as red as before, and it was somewhat cool to the touch, it was still a bit swelled though.

"So any ideas about what's wrong with Twinkletoes?" Toph asked after a few moments of silence.

More silence followed.

* * *

Aang

I slowly opened my eyes the next morning, blinked a few times to rid them of sleep, and stood up. I stretched, then walked over to my meditation candles, lit them, and sat down.

I focused on the otherworldly feeling of the Spirit World, imagined my spirirt leaving my body, and opened my eyes.

I could tell that I was a spirit, but I was still sitting in my room. I stood up and looked down at my body, the tattoos were glowing. So why was I still here?

**"Hello, human."**

I whurled around, and came face to face with one of the last spirits I wanted to see.

Wan Shi Tong.

* * *

**Remember Wan Shi Tong? That owl spirit that owned the library in the desert that tried to kill them all? Yup, that's the one!**


	7. 7 Accused

**Hello again! Another short one, but I thought that where it ends is a pretty good stopping point. :P  
And just so you know, Aang had been in his meditation the entire time when he thought everyone had disappeared. Wan Shi Tong did that to him to coax him into the Spirit World. I wasn't going to mention it in the story, so I thought I'd just tell you here.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender**

* * *

Aang

I stared, my mouth hanging open in shock. Wan Shi Tong, he who knows ten thousand things. What was he doing here? What did he want with _me_?

I quickly collected myself. I bowed, "Wan Shi Tong, I am humbled to be in presence, but may I ask why you need to speak to me?" I question, wanting to try to be ask polite as I could.

He cocked his owl head at me, **" I came to ask you why you have taken one of my knowledge seekers." **He asked flatly.

I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't just shocked. "What makes you think that I took one of them? Why do you think I'd know _how_ to take one?" I asked. I knew that he didn't like humans, but this was a little uncalled for.

He answered quickly, **"She disappeared at the exact time you and your friends left my library."**

"Well, how do you know that it didn't just want to escape the sinking library?" I questioned. "Trust me, we have no need for one of your knowledge seekers."

His eyes seemed to get darker. **"She, not it, human. And she wouldn't want to escape, I was just pulling it back into the Spirit World. That is where she belonged."**

"Well, what did she look like then? Or do they all look the same?" I asked. If I could perhaps help him find his fox spirits, then maybe he won't think so lowly of humans anymore.

**"She was white. Most of them do look the same, but she was that only white one." **His voice seemed pinched, as if he was angry.

I gulped, "Well, I never saw a white fox anywhere in the desert or in your library. I am sorry." I bowed again. Angry spirit= no more me.

**"Do not lie to me human!"** He spat, growing larger, just like he did when he was trying to kill my friends and I at his library.

I gave a small squeak in fear, and then darted out of the way as be brought his beak down to where I had been standing.

This continued for a few minutes, him pecking, me dodging.

I was trying to get back into my body, but it seemed as if I was being held here in the Spirit World, most likely by Wan Shi Tong.

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't terrified, I was. I was trapped in the Spirit World with an angry owl spirit out for my blood.

I started to wonder if I could call Roku. Yes, he could help me get back to the physical world! I focused my mind deep inside myself, searching for Roku.

No luck. Maybe it didn't work in the Spirit World?

I was just starting to run out of ideas to escape when a giant panda barreled into the side of Wan Shi Tong.

"Hei Bei!" I said, delighted to see my old friend. He stood up and shook out his fur, then walked over to me. He touched his nose to my forehead, like he did when I can to the Spirit World at the North Pole. I felt myself falling, then land heavyly back into my body.

I gasped at the impact.


	8. 8 Clearing

**I was going to post this this morning, but I didn't really want to get outta bed... Or write for that matter :P**

**Disclaimer: I don't own ATLA**

* * *

Katara

It must have been at least an hour after we had arrived in Aang's room to find him like this. Eyes glazed over sitting in a lotus tile position. We've tried everything that we could think of to snap him out of it, but nothing has worked so far.

So now we are all just lying around in his room, trying to think of new ideas.

"What if we try to dumping water on him again?" Sokka asked, not even looking up from his position on the floor near Toph.

"It didn't work the first 7 times Snoozles, it isn't going to work." Toph stated bluntly. She then opened her mouth the speak, but we all knew what she was about to say.

"Toph, it was a bad idea the first time, its not happening!" Suki shouted at her. Her idea was to try and drown him, and forcing his body to react from the shock.

"Not to mention that we can't move him at all." Zuko grumbled, not really looking for an anwser.

We returned to our silence again, all out of ideas.

"What if a spirit did this to him?" Suki whispered. I felt myself stiffen at the thought. He could be like that forever!

Everyone quickly sat up when we heard something move. Quick as lightning, we were all crowded around Aang again.

"Toph, did he move?" I asked, trying not to let my voice squeak from disuse. She nodded. Again, silence engulfed us. We waited, no one moving, for almost 3 minutes. Aang took a deep breath, and blinked.

He blinked again. Then twice. His eyes faded back to their stormy grey state, and I had to restrain myself from attacking him in a hug.

After a few seconds of no one moving, I hugged him anyway.

This seemed to snap everyone into action. Sokka was shouting over and over again 'What happened?! and shaking Aang by the shoulders', Toph was grinning like a madman, while Zuko and Suki were pry Sokka off of Aang.

After they successfully got him pinned to the floor, I released Aang from my hug and just sat next to him, waiting for him to explain his odd state.

"Sokka, I have a question for you. Actually for Toph and Katara too." Aang said slowly. We all looked at him. "Did any of you see a white fox spirit when we were at Wan Shi Tong's library?"

I was shocked, and by the look on Sokka's face, he was too. I thought back to when we went to the library. I remember seeing that only fox that climbed into the library when we were still outside, and the one that showed us the atatourium.

"I don't think so." I tell him, trying to think if I had seen any more. Sokka shook his head.

"Well, why are you asking Twinkletoes?" Toph questioned, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Toph, did you feel any of them come out of the library at any time?" Aang ignored her question.

"Um, it's hard to say. It was hard to feel anything while we were in that sand hole. Let me think... I think that there was something, when it was sinking. I could have sworn that something landed behind me that had four legs. It came out about 4 minutes before you guys." She stated, closing her eyes.

Aang seemed to tense up as she spoke. "Why do you ask, Aang?" I questioned him softly. He turned his head to look me in the eye. "Wan Shi Tong. He tried to kill me because he thinks that we kidnapped one of his knowledge seekers. She seemed pretty important to him to me." He said, his eyes never leaving mine.

"Why would he think that we took it?" Sokka questioned. Everyone then turned to him. "Well, you did steal all those scrolls from his library." I told him, crossing my arms over my chest.

He opened and closed his mouth a few times, making him look similar to a fish without water. "Well, we didn't take it!" He declared after a moment.

"She."

We all looked at Aang. "What?" Suki asked. "She." He repeated. "Wan Shi Tong didn't say it, he said _she._" He continued.

Sokka scoffed at him and crossed his arms over his chest and glared at him. "Well sorry! _She_ didn't come with us!" He paused. "Why is it so important to him? I thought that he had thousands of those fox thingies."

"I'm pretty sure he does, but this one seemed really important to him. He also said that she was the only white one. He even thought I was lying when I said that I never saw her, he tried to kill me. If it wasn't for Hei Bei, I'd probably still be there." Aang repeated what had happened, not going into much detail.

"Well, you're safe now and we don't know of any white fox spirit, so let's just go and get some lunch, I'm hungry." Toph declared, standing up and walking around the destroyed door through the doorway.

As everyone else stood, Aang looked at the door on the floor and gave me a questionable glace. I shrugged and gave him a look that said '_I'll tell you later._'

As we all left the room, I held Aang back as everyone else rounded a corner. After I was sure that they couldn't hear us anymore, I turned to him.

"Why didn't you tell me that your scar had broken open?"

He looked alarmed, and defiantly taken aback. "How did you-?" He started, then stopped. "You were in the spirit world for over 24 hours, we were checking you for wounds because we thought something was wrong." It wasn't a total lie.

He looked down at the ground. "I just didn't want you to waste your time healing it...again. I wanted to see if it could heal on its own, since after this is done I'll be dropping you and Sokka off at the South Pole."

"Aang..." I started, but stopped. I didn't really know how to finish.

A few moments of silence passed between us, then I said "I'm sorry." This brought his gaze up from the floor.

"What do you mean?" He asked, his head tilting slightly to the right in confusion. "I mean for what happened at that stupid play." I said dryly.

A blush quickly spread over his face. "N-No Katara, you shouldn't be sorry. I'm the one that should be!" He said quickly, shaking his head back and forth quickly.

"No Aang, I wasn't being very clear, so I'm sorry. Okay?"

"Well, I shouldn't have kissed you."

"That's not the point. I shouldn't have ran off like that." He opened his mouth the speak, but I cut him off. "Look, I didn't want to believe that I liked you as more than a friend in case you...er, didn't defeat Ozai. I was too afraid of going through the same heartbreak I felt when I lost my mother." I whispered the last part.

He just looked at me, sympathy shining through his storm grey eyes. Then, he kissed me.

And I kissed him back.


	9. 9 A New Visitor

**I am so sorry that I haven't updated in a while! I had terrible writers block and anything that I wrote just seemed horrible! But after reading some stories and my sisters help, I got over it and an idea struck! Thanks sis!**

**Or, and just to answer one of my reviewers, Brandon, I told you that you don't come in for a while yet! Or did I...? Well, now I am!**

* * *

Azula

I was sitting in my room, staring at the door. I was willing for someone to came through it. I wanted out, but there wasn't a handle on this side, and I'd already tried melting it. With no success.

Then, it opened. And in stepped a boy, who must have been maybe 15 or so. He was tall, maybe 5'8 or 5'6, had this dark, chocolate colored hair, blue eyes, and a very thin face. His eyes seemed to be sparkled with insanity, as mine probably did.

He wore a normal Fire Nation peasant's clothing, red and black shirt and pants, with somewhat pointed shoes.

In an instant, he was on the floor, bowing to me with his legs underneath him and his head touching the floor. I laughed, then barked a high pitched 'Rise' at him. He rose, and when he was fully standing again, he shot me a grin I've only ever seen someone use when they were about to do something insane.

"Princess." He said, his voice still a bit high, for a guy. It was probably still changing.

"Who are you, and what is it that you want?" I snapped at him. He didn't even flinch. "My name is Grant, Your Highness, and I am your humble servant." He did another bow, one that stage performers do at the end of a play.

I laughed again. "Well then, humble servant. Get me out of here." I knew it was an impossible task, but I wanted to see if this servant was devoted or not.

He just gave that insane grin again, and stated simply. "I was planning on you saying that."

* * *

Sokka

"Hey, where'd Sugar Queen and Twinkle Toes go?" Toph asked as we were eating a late breakfast.

I paused in my eating, my hand halfway up to my mouth. "Weren't they right behind us?" Zuko asked. This time we all paused and I set my food back down on the plate.

"I wonder where they went." Suki said simply, the ghost of a smile on her lips. I looked at her questionably.

Toph was grinning at me. "Suki, you're boyfriend is so clueless." Toph said, not looking away from me. "What do you mean?" Zuko asked.

Now Toph was looking in Zuko's direction, "You're just as clueless!" She said, you could tell she was making an effort not to laugh. "I don't get it." I said simply, taking a drink of water.

"Of course you wouldn't Snoozles. Here, let me spell it out for you. Katara and Aang are both gone, we don't know where they went, and they both know that we're going to be here for at least an hour." She said slowly.

I stared blankly at her while Zuko smacked his forehead with the palm of his hand. "Now I get it." He stated, shaking his head slowly.

"I still don't." I said, grabbing a piece of meat and shoving it into my mouth.

Toph grinned again, "5 gold pieces says they're making out!" She shouted. Suki then jumped up, "You're on!" I could literally hear the click in my brain.

I followed Suki and Toph quietly down the hallway that lead to Aang's room. Toph paused at a corner and put her hand to it, breathing deeply. "I can't feel then anywhere."

We continued on, stopping once in a while for Toph to scoop out the area. After almost 40 minutes of searching, we gave up and head back towards the dining room.

No one was there, and the table was all cleared.

"Where did everyone go?" Suki asked, looking around. "We weren't gone that long were we?"

Sokka looked out the window at the sun, which was now directly overhead. "I think we were gone longer then we thought."

"Well then where did Sugar Queen and Twinkletoes go? We've looked everywhere for them!" Toph stated angrily. She blew at her bangs in frustration. "Where could they have gone?"

A few moments of silence followed as everyone thought. "They probably left on Appa, didn't they?" Sokka guessed after thinking it over a few moments longer. Toph and Suki both nodded, thinking that that was the best option.

Toph suddenly grinned. "Hey Sokka, Aang told me earlier that you knew how to play Airball, do you wanna come and play Earthball with me? It sounds easier then the Air one." She shrugged. Sokka agreed and the three trailed out into the courtyard to play.

* * *

Aang

After I had kissed Katara (and she kissed me back!), we decided to head out on Appa to fly out of the city so we could truely be alone. We were currently sitting next to a small stream in the middle of a forest.

The air was warm, but it was starting to cool now that fall was fast approaching. The trees were quite thick in around the stream, so it was likely that we would hear anyone that tried to approach us.

Silence was hanging heavily in the air, making the air feel a bit stuffy. We hadn't spoken at all since that kiss expect to agree to get out of the city.

Appa was over on the other side on the stream, fast asleep in the warm air. I had to admit that it made me feel tired, too.

"I-" Katara started to say. I looked at over at her. She was wringing her hands and staring at her feet, knees held against her. I waited calmly for her to continue.

Her eyes started to shine with the threat of tears. I looked at her with a hint of concurn in my eyes. "I'm sorry." She said, her voice shaking slightly. "What do you mean?" I asked, confusion crossing over my still boy-ish features.

"I'm sorry." She repeated. "I lied." More confusion on my end. "At the play." She clarified. Understanding now, I asked, "What do you mean you lied?"

"I lied about what I said to you. I wasn't confused." She seemed to hesiate for a moment. "I was just trying to protect myself, I guess. Because if you didn't defeat Ozai, I was afriad that I would truely break." She slowly explained, hugging her knees closed to her.

"Because I love you-wait, no. Because I'm _in _love with you." She stated, finally looking up at me, her eyes shining with tears and confidence. I was truely shocked how easily she said it, I could bearly even say it out loud!

I opened my mouth, preparing to tell her what my heart was telling me. The tension had faded away, leaving a peaceful feeling hanging in the air. "I-" I stopped short, feeling as if something bad was about to happen. She looked at me, confusion clouding her azure eyes.

I looked around at the stream, then towards the forest. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Katara looking at me oddly. Then a branch snapped.

Both of our heads wiped around towards the noise. It had come from the treeline. We heard a low, animal growl. We both stood up and got into our waterbending forms, preparing for the worst.

I saw a flash of white in the green undergrowth. I tensed. Another flash as it leaped out of the brush towards us, teeth bared.

It was a fox.


	10. 10 The White Fox

**Since I had sort of ignored this story for a few days, I decided that I'll post two longish chapters today! So enjoy and review please! Feel free to correct me on spellings, I can't figure out how to turn on my spellcheck :P**

* * *

Aang

The fox leaped at me, teeth bared and it seemed as if it was looking for blood. More specifically, _my_ blood.

I rammed into me, knocking us both into the river. I saw Katara standing on the bank, a look of shock across her face. The fox had me lying on my back in the icy water, its lips pulled back to show its sharp, white teeth.

It had its front paw firmly on my chest, leaning its weight on me, forcing me to stay down.

It had the whitest fur I had ever seen, so white that it seemed to glow faintly in the fading sunlight. It sparkled and shined in the sunlight and reflected off the running water, giving it an unnatural look to it.

I wasn't even fighting to stand back up. I was staring into its eyes.

They were a light blue, with a slight hint of green mixed into it. The most oddest color that I'd seen. Everyone I had meet had the eye color of their respected nations. But the thing that really had me frozen in shock was that there was gold flakes near the pupil of the animal. Almost like someone had spatter painted one strike across this creatures eyes, giving it gold.

Then the animal was thrown off me, the river suddenly looking for revenge on it for disturbing its peaceful flow. I quickly scrambled out of the icy liguid, my breath coming in fast breaths.

I looked up at Katara, who was in a waterbending stance. So she was the one that had gotten the fox off of me. I looked back into the river, the fox was now lying in the middle, the water running around and over its white fur. It was out cold.

Katara was suddenly by my side, hugging my shaking figure, asking over and over again if I was ok. I nodded, my teeth chattering. I wasn't even sure why I was cold, Airbenders couldn't feel the cold.

I was probably just shaken up from the shock of the event.

"I'm fine Katara, thank you." I told her, my voice a whisper. She continued to hug me, clearly trying to help me warm up.

I let her, feeling relaxed in her warm embrace. We both looked at the fox in the water. My jaw dropped when I noticed the red look to the water that was running past the animal. It was injured.

I quickly wiggled out of Katara's grip, her asking what I was doing. I splashed back into the water and kneeled down next to the animal, Katara right behind me.

Then she too noticed the color change of her element. Panic filled her eyes as we both hulled the fox out of the water and onto the bank. We set it down gently, trying not to hurt it any farther. It shifted.

We both froze, praying to the spirits that it wouldn't wake up. It didn't. I sighed as I softly blowed a warm wind onto its fur, drying to dry it. Katara raised an eyebrow at me, I raised one back and mouth 'What?'.

She rolled her eyes as she stood up and took a waterbending stance, pulling the water from my cloths and the fox's fur. I hit my forhead with the palm of my hand. "I'm suck an idiot." I whispered just loud enough for Katara to hear.

She giggled as she kneeled down next to me near the heard of the fox. "Can you see the injury?" She whispered, leaning closer to my ear to hear better. I blushed at her closeness and shook my head.

We silently looked over the animal for the source of the blood, with no luck. It must have been on the other side, or somewhere that we would have to move the animal again to see it.

"We should probably take it back. I injured it, I feel like I'm responsible for hurt it." Katara whispered to me. I nodded and we picked up the fox again. As we headed to the stream to cross it, I notcied the puddle of blood where the fox had been lying. I quickly looked away.

As we slowly lifted the fox onto Appa, a soft, high pitch whine came from deep within its throat. I couldn't tell what kind of whine it was.

After we had moved the fox on board, I whispered a soft 'yip, yip' to Appa. Neither of us talked on the trip back to the palace. I was wondering what our friends were going to say, both of us disappearing like that and then returning with a fox, a _fox_ of all creatures.

* * *

Zuko

I found Toph, Suki and Sokka later in the royal gardens, playing a three-way game with a ball and three goal posts. I raised an my eyebrow at the game, wondering where they had found a ball to play with.

Sokka then looked up and noticed me. "Hey Zuko!" He shouted, waving over at me. I raised one of my hands in greeting, but nothing more. Sokka walked briskly over to me.

"You haven't seen Aang or Katara have you? We couldn't find then earlier." He frowned when I shook my head. "Well, then they better show up soon, otherwise I'm going to kill that monk, Avatar or not!" He stated firmly.

I shook my head at him, it was amazing how he had survived this war. Even though he was in the South Pole for most of it.

He walked back to his game and I walked over to the turtleduck pond that my mother and I used to sit at years ago. I watched the ducks swim around in the water, completely carefree.

An hour or so had passed before we all heard a familiar roar. Everyone looked up at and spotted Appa, Aang on his head and Katara in the saddle. He landed in the gardens as everyone ran over to them.

"Where have you been?!" Sokka shouted, reaching them first. Neither one of them responded, or even got off the bison. Aang had crawled back into the saddle next to Katara and looked down at something.

By this time all of us were scrambling to get up and see what they were looking at, but when I saw it I fell back out, not being fully in the saddle. As I made my way back up and fully got in, I sat next to Sokka who was staring at the creature.

Suki had tears in the eyes, Sokka looked shocked, and Toph's eyes were even misting over as she gently laid a hand on it.

"What. Happened." Sokka said sternly, looking at Katara.

Everyone could clearly see the blood that was now matted into the white fur of the fox. Katara's voice was quiet. "It attack Aang." She paused. "Well, more like it knocked him in the river, it had had plently of time the try and kill him, but it didn't." She said softly. Aang nodded, not looking away from the creature.

"Didn't Wan Shi Tong say something about a white fox disappearing from his library?" Suki asked. Everyone tensed.

"You have got to be kidding me..." Sokka whispered, his voice shaking. "What?" Toph asked.

"Katara killed a spirit!" Sokka shouted, throwing his hands up to add to his claim. "It isn't dead Sokka!" Aang said to him, making the yound sword master flinch. "Oh, right..."

"Well then, where's the wound?" Suki asked, running her hands through the now blood red fur.

Katara and Aang both glanced at each other, then at the fox, then the rest of their group. "We don't know." Katara said, fear leaking into her voice. "But the crazy owl spirit will kill us if this-this thing dies!" Sokka said, pointing at the fox.

Everyone execpt Toph glared at him.

"Wait, you mean that Wan Shi Tong is going to kill us?" Suki asked, knowing that this was the owl spirit that Sokka spoke of.

"Because this must be the knowledge seeker that he said was missing!" Aang said, looking down at the fox as if through a new light. Zuko looked at the pool of blood underneath it and smeared into its fur.

"Then we better get it-"Aang shot me a glare"-_her_ off of Appa and see what we can do to help her." I said, finally speaking. Everyone nodded then climbed off of Appa to help.

After we had removed the wounded spirit, I asked Aang, "How can a spirit even be injured?"

He nearly tripped, and he would have too if it weren't from his airbending. "I-" He paused, clearly thinking carefully over his next words. "Well, unless they take a mortal form like the moon and ocean spirits, then only their emotions can cause them wounds. But not like mental wounds, but physical wounds that can kill them." I swear I saw a lamp go off above that kid's head.

"That means that Katara didn't really hurt it!" He said, then he darted off to probably go and tell her that. I rolled my eyes. I can't believe that those two aren't a couple yet.

"I know what you mean." Toph said, suddenly besides me." I jumped and spun around to look at her. She was laughing. "Sorry! I thought you knew I was there!" She stated after she had stopped.

I rolled my eyes, knowing fully well that it was a useless gesture.

I ignored her and walked over to where Aang and Katara were looking over the wounded spirit, clearly trying to be careful. Aang was hold her head, his hands red and wet with blood. I flinched at how much blood was covering the two of them.

That thing didn't have much more life in it.


	11. 11 The Fox and The Nuetral

**Hello everyone! I think I might have strep throat so I'm going to the doctors later, but that leaves me time to type! We get to meet another new character in this chapter! Yay! Its only briefly though. And this is to my friend that she's based off of: Are you happy? I tried to make it seem like her hair was colored!**

**Disclaimer: I realized I've been forgetting to do these :P I don't own ATLA**

* * *

Katara

I was shocked, that's for sure. Then I was relieved. Then scared and worried. I hadn't been the one to hurt the white fox, it was something that was her own probably, not because of me.

But what if she died because no one could heal it? Then we would all have to watch this beautiful spirit die, knowing that there's very little that we can do.

"I got an idea." Mai said, breaking the tense silence. She had joined us after Zuko had fetched her. My eyes followed the elder teen as she walked over to a servant passing by and whispered soon instructions to him. He bows and takes off and a full sprint.

Everyone watches her as she walks back over to us. She never explained, even after we asked. Sokka ended up getting pinned to one of the trees, which gave everyone a good laugh.

After about ten more minutes of silence, a girl arrived. She was a little taller then me, had black hair and it had colored pieces of cloth that flowed with it, and her eyes were quite unlike any I've seen, they were a light red, almost a pink color. Very strange indeed.

As she came up to us, she bowed to all of us. After she had straightened back out the headband that I now noticed she was wearing, she introduced herself. "My name is Bryttney. I believe that someone said you needed some help waking an animal?" She asked, a hint of boredom was in her tone, but I could tell she was trying hard not to be.

Aang stepped forward then. "Yes, that's correct." He said simply, bowing back to her. "I am Avatar Aang, but you can just call me Aang." He said.

I then stepped forward. "I'm Katara," I said, pointing to myself, then to Sokka, "He's my brother, Sokka. Next to him is Suki." I then pointed to Zuko. "That's Zuko, Mai and Toph." I pointed to each person I named.

She nodded once. "And the animal?" Bryttney asked, eyeing the blood covered white fox on lying in the grass. You could barely see the rise and fall of its chest. "We need to wake her up."

She nodded once again and walked quickly over to the creature. She pulled a small herb from a pouch on a belt at her waist and waved it under the fox's nose a few times.

The nose twitched. Once, twice. Then it took a deep breath, and started to cough. I don't think I've ever seen an animal cough before.

The fox's eyes snapped open and it quickly lifted its head, which was being whipped back and forth.

"Peppermint. With animals high sense of smell it and how cold the smell of the raw plant is, it triggers then brain into wakefulness. Here," She handed me the plant, peppermint. "If you ever need it again." She then turned to Mai.

"Can I go now? Orion and I were sparring." Mai nodded, a ghost of smile on her lips. Bryttney left, only glancing back at us once, before disappearing into the darkness of the building.

We then looked at the fox, who was using her paws to cover her nose, and it looked like she was trying to rub something off of it. I looked down at the peppermint in my hand. Oh right, the smell. I quickly stuffed it into my pocket.

Aang and I slowly walked towards the fox, who was now licking her coat, removing the blood. I raised an eyebrow at it. I thought only cats did that.

I walked into where the fox could see me from how she sitting. She didn't even pause, but I could see her eyes on me. As I approached her, she made no move of attacking or fleeing, she just continued to clean.

I kneeled down in front of her. She didn't do anything. Aang came up next to me and sat down. This made the fox pause in her licking, but she continued after a moment.

I waved over the others. We made a half circle around her, making sure she knew that she wasn't trapped. She didn't even glance at any of them. I slowly lifted my hand and extended it out to her, holding it near her nose. She ignored it.

I placed my hand on her neck. This made her fluent licks falter, but she carried on as if nothing had happened.

I stroked her bloody fur. I could feel that her muscles were tense, but she showed no sign in it. I removed my hand as she swung her head around to groom the other side of her flank. I looked at everyone, Aang just shrugged, Toph was looking in the foxs direction, Zuko had his eyes closed, as did Mai, Sokka had his arm around Suki with his mouth open stupidly, Suki had her eyebrows knitted together in confusion.

"Someone else try, she doesn't seem like she wants to hurt us." I stated softly, trying not to frighten the fox. She didn't even pause in her licking.

"I'll try." Toph stated as she moved closer to Aang and I. She did exactly what I did, and the fox completely ignored her, even after Toph's hand had touched her fur. "She feels tense." Toph said, then backed away. "Her heart is going pretty fast too."

Everyone else then tried, except for Aang. He was the last.

Slowly, he moved his hand towards the fox. As his hand got closer to the fox, she paused in her licking and sniffed. Everyone froze. This was new.

She swung her beautifully sculpted face in Aang direction. She stared at his hand. We all held our breath. She slowly inched her head closer to his hand, and sniffed it. She then looked at me, and went back to her licking. She had almost completely removed the blood from her fur.

We all released our breath, thankful that she hadn't tried to attack. Aang then continued to move his hand until it rested on her white fur. The fox stopped mid-lick.

* * *

The Fox

I felt a gentle hand touch my fur, right between my neck and back. I froze in my clean and shifted my eyes to look at the hand. There were arrows on it, a very light, pretty blue. The arrow line continued up to the arm, disappearing as it turned.

Slowly, I turned my head towards the hand. It was different from the others.

This one felt airy, I could hardly feel it. I blinked a few times, still staring at the hand. It was touching me, right?

I confirmed the thought by moving against the hand, the pressure of it hardly changed.

All of the humans besides the arrow boy jumped at my sudden movements. I shifted so I could get a better look at them all. The hand had not yet moved away like the others did before, and I couldn't help but compared this touch to the others.

The dark skinned female's hand been soft, yes, but yet firm. The smallest female had hardly touched her, but it had felt rough and demanding. Then there was the scarred boy's touch, it had felt hot, almost so it was uncomfortable. The eldest female's seemed direct, sharp almost. The dark skinned male's touch was quiet soft, but not as soft as the other dark skinned humans. The female besides the dark skinned boy's touch had had purpose, like everything she did was to change something.

It didn't like that feeling. Like it was demanding for me to react to it.

But the arrow boy's touch was breeze like. I could tell his fingers were nimble, able to do detailed work on small objects. I hadn't felt a touch like his in almost 150 years. Maybe more.

So, I leaned towards his touch, savoring every moment of it. Out of all of the touches and pets I had received in my life, I had always liked the ones from the bald ones. Most with arrows like this one. I had been told that I would never feel a touch like that again almost a century ago.

Then a thought came to me.

I was actually happy. I was happy that I had left the library, my home.

My father.

* * *

**Just in case you didn't figure it out, the white fox is Wan Shi Tong's daughter! I'm just stating it down here because I think its a but unclear in the story :P **

**You see, I was wondering how they got more spirits. Did they just appear out of no where when a new river or forest is made? Or do they actually have children that they can call their own? I guessed the second one, so I'm going to build on it!**


	12. 12 The Escape

**I am so sorry that I haven't been posting chapters :P I can't seem to find a good stopping point for the chapters. Either way, I realized that I haven't thanked my reviewers recently, so THANK YOU!**

**Disclaimer: I do not, nor ever will, own ATLA**

* * *

Azula

Grant has proven to be quite useful. Unlike many other servants I've had in the past. He's completely devoted to me. And he's done what I've asked of him.

So tonight, I'm going to walk free of this dull, boring room.

It was nearly midnight, when I decided that I should start to leave. Grant had given me a map of the grounds, where and when the guards would be, and told me how hot to make the metal bars that were blocking my window.

So I moved one of the many chairs under my barred window. I lit a blue flame in my hand. Then I threw it at the opening.

It exploded, sending me and my chair toppling over to the ground. I ignored the bruises that I could feel forming and scrambled out the small window, being careful to avoid the broken, hot bars.

I'm pretty sure that people heard the explosion, so I ran. I ran fast and quick, taking to route I had planned earlier.

Left, left, right, straight, left, through the door on the right, and one more left. I was in the lobby.

No one was there, probably all of them were at my room by now. So I darted through the doors that Grant made sure they forgot to lock, and I sprinted over to the forest.

Grant had told me that I just had to follow the set moon, so west, and then I would reach a town where I could probably find some loyal subjects to me.

After hours of running, I did make it to a town. I didn't bother to read the name on the sign as I walked into it. People were walking around, given that it was now early morning.

I walked up to a man and asked how they thought about who the new Firelord was going to be. His eyes flashed with hatred as he said that he was pleased that the war was over. Liar. So I said that I hated him too.

Let the revenge begin.

* * *

Sokka

It had been a little over a week since Aang and Katara had brought that fox back to the palace. And neither one of them would answer me when I asked why they had left in the first place.

That creepy spirit fox was following Aang around everywhere. Everyone just guessed it was because he was the bridge between our world and the Spirit World, but I didn't think that was the case.

So I've been doing an investigation on a white knowledge seeker for Wan Shi Tong in the palace library. So far I've come up with some interesting facts.

1. There was only one white knowledge seeker that had been seen.

2. It was indeed female.

3. She had always been seen near Wan Shi Tong himself.

4. Whenever anyone had gone near her, the other knowledge seekers attacked them.

So this must be the leader of the knowledge seekers. They protected her, and she had probably made a deal with Wan Shi Tong so he could use them, and that's why she was always near him.

Now only a few questions remained. Why did she leave? What was she called? And why was she white?

I'm not very good at coming up with question, ok?

So now I'm currently following this white fox around, who was following Aang, who was going to waterbend with Katara. It was a train of followers, I guess. Me to Fox, Fox to Aang, Aang to Katara.

Which brings me back to the question of why they had left the palace without telling anyone. I'd have to ask them later, right now I was trying to go unnoticed.

So I followed them, writing notes on a little notepad that I had with me. I was writing down everything Aang and Katara said, all their movements and gestures. The only thing that was interesting that I had found out was that the fox was always trying to be touching Aang.

Can spirits develop a crush?

Another question that needs to be answered.

The fox rubbed her head along Aang's hand for about the 12th time in the past few minutes. How does he not realize it?

Aang then strokes the fox's head a few times, and I swear I can hear it purr. Can fox's purr?

Oh yeah, that spirit defiantly seems to have a crush. Or maybe it was love? It did look like a love sick polarbear puppy. Or a love sick fox. Whatever.

* * *

Aang

I knew that Sokka was following us. Katara, the fox, and I, that is. Does he really think that he can spy on someone who was trained by Toph? I don't think he's planning an attack on us though. He seems to just be observing.

I couldn't help but notice how the fox had been following me everywhere. It had almost been a week, and she was still going strong.

This morning I almost stepped on her because she was sleeping right next to my bed. And the really scary part was that I had locked my door the night before when I'd managed to lose her.

And my door was still locked too.

"So have you spoken to Wan Shi Tong yet?" Katara asked me, bringing me back out of my thought. "Um, no. I haven't been able to find him." I state, remembering how I was searching for him in the Spirit World for at least an hour yesterday. Even with Roku's help.

"Roku promised that if he saw him that he would say that we found his knowledge seeker." Katara nods, then glances at the fox that was trotting next to me, easily keeping pace with us.

"So have you managed to speak with her at all?" I shake my head. "Did you at least name her? I hate just calling her 'the fox'" Katara says.

"No. I've never been all that good with names. Do you have anything?"

"No. Is it even right to give a name to a spirit?"

"Well, humans do it all the time. I'm not sure how they come up with them though. And not all spirits talk, Hei Bei doesn't."

"Or maybe he's never spoken to you."

"That is possible."

"Did you figure out what her wound is yet?"

"No, but I did find it. It's a big gash in her side, near her stomach. I can't figure out what emotion could have done that though."

"Is it going to kill her?"

"No, it looks bad, but it isn't bleeding anymore. So I'm guessing that the mental pain is better, otherwise it would continue to bleed."

We were silent after that as we made our way to the royal gardens to waterbend. The fox kept on rubbing her head against me, but even when I pet her she still did. I couldn't figure out why.

As we walked out into the gardens and over to the pond, I noticed that the turtleducks swam off and hid once they saw the fox.

Maybe Katara's right. I should try to name her, it's getting to confusing and tiresome to call her the fox. It just doesn't sound right.

What to name a white spirit fox that is very intelligent, or at least I'm guessing is smart. She is a knowledge seeker after all. Maybe something that stands for spirit, or white. Maybe snow.

I shook my head. Waterbend, don't think about names now. Think about them later.

I pulled a ribbon of the clear water from the pond and passed it to Katara. She easily caught it. We passed it back and forth for a while, getting warmed up. The fox sat in between where we were standing, her eyes following the water.

I then pulled more water from the pond and got into the octopus stance. Katara launched icicles at me, I deflected them easily. She stopped and put her hands on her hips.

"Your arms are still to far apart." She stated. I quickly moved my arms closer together. "Better?"

"Much."

I laughed as I dropped my stance, the water splashing to the ground. Some of the water sprayed the fox and she yelped, surprised. That got Katara laughing too.

I swear that I saw the fox glaring at us, can fox's even glare?

"Wanna go for a swim in the lake in the forest?" Katara asked me, calming down from our laughing fit. I nodded and we headed over to the tall wall blocking us from the forest. I lifted Katara up, bridle style, and leapped over the wall. After I set her down, we looked up at the wall, which had to be at least 9 feet tall.

"I'm never going to be able to get use to that." I heard Katara mumble, I smiled.

We both jumped when the fox landed next to me. I looked back up at the wall, then to the fox. "Did she really manage to climb over that?" I asked Katara, out of the corner of my eye I saw her smile. "Either that or she's an airbender too." She teased. I raised an eyebrow at her in question and she laughed.

"Comeon, lets hurry. If they notice that we're gone before we get out of here, we're dead!" I laughed and followed after her sprinting form.

I decided to let her beat me there, considering it won't ever happen again.

* * *

**This is to my friends that are in the story: Most of you guys are coming in next chapter! And don't worry FanGirl214, you get some more time in my story! And we get to see more of your 'neutral' side!**

**For everyone else, if you have any ideas for this story, you can PM me or post it in the comments. I have a lot of time to fill in before I get where I wanna be. :P**


	13. 13 An Interruption

**Disclaimer: I no own ATLA**

* * *

Bryttney

I stand about ten feet from Orion with my two swords in hand. My swords were identical and made of extremely rare black metal that has only been use to make my special sword. The hilt and guard were wrapped in soft white silk that trailed off almost to the ground.

Orion and I were sparing again and this was a blade spare. We take turns with what kinds of spares we do like one time it will be hand to hand and the next it will be only with staffs and so on.

It had lasted for about an hour now and Orion looked really exhausted but I knew I looked fine. I'm use to lasting forever in a fight. That's why I win most of the time. Orion was breathing hard and had dirt smeared on his skin and clothes. I laugh."You wanna quit?'' I yell over to him."Never," he yells and runs at me.

I cross my sword in a blocking move as his sword hits mine. We hold our swords there for a while, staring each other down in a test of strength. Then Orion with a quick and sharp movement of his sword knocked one of mine out of my hand and sent it fly through the air.

I kick off the ground in a backwards flip and catch my sword in mid-air, then land evenly on my feet."Ha, you think that'll stop me," I say and glare at him."Do you really think I am that pathetic. After all we've been through it's just insulting. Now I have to take this seriously." I say and start moving my swords faster than before.

I have used the move before in the middle of a battle, but only once. My blades were moving so fast it was just a blur of black metal and white silk. You could hear the blades cutting through the air and see the breeze coming from the fast moving blade by the movement of my hair and clothes.

I knew it looked scary by the look on his face. It was one of the only times I had seen him afraid, but it quickly changed into a look of determination.

He ran at me and tried to hit the blur of sword but it just bounced back with much force. He tried to hit again and again but every time it would just bounce back again.

I smile, "I told you I'm being serious now," I say then through one of my sword straight up in the air. Orion's moment of shock was just long enough for me to turn and elbow him in the face hard enough to push him back about five feet.

I turn to face him and put my hand in the air just in time to catch my sword. He faces me, a little angry by the look he's giving me and stands at the ready. I run at him and for a while we just knock each others' swords away not putting much effort into it. Finally, Orion made a move.

He thrust his sword forward. I moved fast enough to dodge the blow but it just cut the edge of my sleeve. ''Now look what you've done to my new outfit," I whisper before I jump up and push off his shoulder making me go higher into the air. I turn around quickly and throw three knifes at his back. He quickly dodges and turns around to see me land right in front of him.

He smiles."Okay we can stop now." I smile back and say sweetly, "Sorry but I'm not done just yet." His eyes widen as I bring my leg up quickly and kick him in the head, sending him flying in the other direction.

He landed on the ground and stayed there for a while, then started to get up."Oh it's on now," he said while getting in a ready stance.

He charges at me and I get ready to jump over him, when suddenly he's on the ground.

I blink, trying to figure out what happened before I burst out laughing. Orion was now right in front of my feet, looking dazed.

As I calm down, I noticed that we were no longer alone. I looked at the girl that was standing off to the side of our little 'arena', before I realized who it was.

I quickly get down on the dirt packed ground, bowing to the princess. "Princess Azula, to what do I owe the pleasure?" I ask, trying hard to keep the sarcasm out of my voice. If she noticed this, she didn't call me out for it.

"Oh, nothing really. I was just wondering if you would like to help me with a, special mission, if you would." She said, eyeing the now bowing Orion next to me. I stand.

"And what would this mission be?" Orion asked, also standing up.

"Just a way for you two to do some real world fighting and test your skills, if you had any, of course." She said, and I had to dig my nails into my hand to kill the urge to hit her.

"Now how could we refuse something like that?" Orion said, making the decision for me. I made a mental note to hit him the next chance I got, hard.

"Good. Now, I want you two to help me form a resistance against my good for nothing brother. He's too soft to be a ruler, especially of such a great nation."

We both bowed, and followed her out of the yard.

* * *

The Fox

I raced after Aang and Katara as they made their way towards the lake. By the time I had managed to catch up to them, they were already in the lake, swimming. I sat down by the edge of the water to watch them.

"What this Katara!" Aang shouted to her as he made his way over to the bank. She stopped her waterbending and turned towards him. He walked past me all the way to the tree line.

Then, he turned back to the water and took off at a sprint, using his airbending to make him go faster.

He flew by me, making my fur blow in the direction after him. When he reached the water though, he tripped and barreled into Katara.

They both fell down screaming, until they both got dunked under the water. Me, I was laughing my head off.

When they resurfaced, Aang was blushing like mad and saying over and over again how sorry he was.

"I was trying to see if I could run on water, I guess I wasn't going fast enough." He said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment.

Katara just laughed, and Aang soon joined her. These two were a very interesting pair to watch sometimes. How they can just laugh almost anything off, never really fretting over things. I know for a fact that other humans do not act like this. This must be something that only few humans share with each other.

Something like love.

I could tell, they both loved each other, but it was clear to see that they had not yet acted on these feelings. I wonder what I could do to change that?


	14. 14 Maya Laksha

**Geeze! I need to update more, like seriously! It's been what, a week? I feel so ashamed!**

* * *

The Fox

It was something so disowning for me, to be given a name. It was a unique name, given my unique being. Yet somehow, I felt owned. Like I wasn't _me_ anymore.

Maya Laksha.

That was the name that the blue boy gave me. Maya Laksha. He normally just calls me Laksha, and only when he is angry or panic will he say it fully.

What was really unnerving for me was the meaning of being given a name, and the mean that the name held.

I felt like he owned me, like I was his. A pet.

Or a daughter.

The thought had crossed my mind countless times. I had been named, by him and him alone. He had yet to tell the other humans about my name giving, and I begin to wonder if he will. He only whispers the name to me, like he's afraid that someone else will hear it.

Maya Laksha. Maya Laksha. Maya Laksha.

Illusioned White One.

Maya meant illusion. Laksha meant white one. Together, he considered me to be an illusion in white. The only one in white.

The clear thought that really hit me was how I was beginning to like this new name that only he knew and called me by, without the ears of others to hear. I was suddenly struck with the thought that I could escape my old names, start fresh with this new one.

But I realized that I was also beginning to miss my other names. The ones that I had only ever heard whispered by me as I walked the dark halls of Wan Shi Tong's library.

I could easily say that I hated those names, they filled me with dread. Wan Shi Tong was the one to give me one of those, and humans gave me the other.

This blue boy had given me a name that only came from his lips, no one else knew of it. Just me and him. It would strangely give me both feelings of excitement and dread.

Perhaps I should speak to him, tell him of my other names. Or show that I could speak at all. But the illusioned white one will stay silent for some time more. I realize that I'm trying to live in a fantasy, something that will not last at all. I'm too important for Wan Shi Tong to lose to be left alone. He has eternity to look for me.

* * *

Katara

Aang and I were sitting underneath a tree together in the gardens, trying to escape the noon heat. We were just talking about random things; we would be leaving for Ba Sing Se soon. Zuko would be crowned Firelord within the next 3 days.

People had gathered from the 3 nations to celebrate, everyone would gather in the palace to witness this official marking of the end of the war. Peace will be brought forth, and only Aang and King Bumi would have ever known what it would be like.

"So, did you ever come up with a name for the fox?" I asked Aang as we both began to run out of topics to change to.

He nods, "Yeah, but I can't really tell if she likes it or not, she hardly ever seems to take interest." I nod, understanding what he means. It can be hard for an animal to realize that they had been given a name, so they normally won't take notice for a while.

"Well, knowing you, you give pretty good names. I think that she likes it, but she doesn't know that it's for her now." He just closes his eyes and falls back on the grass.

"I know, I don't like the heat either." I say, recognizing that that was what Sokka did when he was to warm. Aang just shook his head. "It's not the heat that's bugging me. It's that Zuko's going to be made Firelord in 3 days."

I heard his unspoken worry, what if something bad happens? An assassin could try to kill us, or a fight could break out between the nations. "I don't think anything bad will happen, Aang. You have can't always assume the worst in everything."

At this he opens one eye to glance at me in question. "When have I ever done that?" I raise one eye brow at him. "The Invasion." I state simply. That was one.

A blush grew on his cheeks, and I suddenly realized what I had just pretty much stated. He had kissed me right before the Invasion, when he was voicing his fears of not coming back. I could feel the heat rising to my cheeks as well as I quickly looked away from his one opened eye.

A few moments of silence passed between us, and I opened my mouth to say something, but I was cut off when we heard a piercing scream come from inside the palace.

Aang sat up and we both looked towards the doorway leading inside. Then we both were up and running for the hallways, heading towards the direction the scream came from.

After a few turns, I realized we were heading towards the Throne Room. That's where the rest of our friends were hanging out.

I picked up speed, but Aang easily started pulling ahead of me. Damn Airbender.

I could tell that he was trying to go slow, to keep pace with me, but it was failing. I was starting to fall behind. I few more turns and I stopped next to Aang at in the doorway of the Throne Room.

He was staring wide-eyed at the scene before him, and when I had caught my breath and looked too, my jaw pretty much hit the floor.

* * *

**This next little message is written in Spanish, because I noticed that I had some people reviewing in Spanish. So I made a note.**

**¡Gracias! Finalmente me decidí a entrar en Google Traducir al decodificar el español, así que ahora que estoy usando para enviar un mensaje especial! Espero que lea todo bien, así que creo que si se puede, se puede decir? Acabo de empezar a tomar español en la escuela este año, así que estoy confiando plenamente en Google! De todos modos, gracias por revisar mi historia, lo que realmente toca mi corazón para saber que te gusta :)**

**Ok, I'm good. I'll now go back to writing chapter 15 so you guys don't have to wait to long cause I have a cliffhanger :P But first, I need food.**


	15. Chapter 15: Fox's Betrayal?

Aang

I was barely aware of Katara standing beside me, her mouth hanging open. My eyes were glued to scene before me.

Toph, Zuko, and Mai were all holding back Sokka, who was flailing against them. He was kicking and punching, and I was pretty sure he would have even used his weapons if he still had them.

Then my eyes trailed to Suki, who was pressing herself up against the wall, brown eyes wide with terror. In front of her was Laksha, teeth bared. There was blood on her flank, slowly dripping into a small pool on the floor. I also noticed that there was blood on her teeth, dripping down her snout as well.

Suki's red Fire Nation outfit was torn, and she had a deep bite mark on her right forearm. You could see both her Kyoshi Warrior fans scattered on the ground, open and bloody.

Katara was the first to recover from the shock, "What happened?" Her voice caring, worried.

Sokka was released as he calmed down and faced his sister. He walked over to us, his posture stiff and tense. He glanced at Katara, but then he trained his eyes on me.

"What happened? _What happened_?" He repeated through clenched teeth. "What happened was the evil spirit _attacked_ Suki for no reason at all!" He shouted, glaring at me. "I knew that we should have just gotten rid of her, she's nothing but trouble! She's trying to kill all of us!" He shouted, his arms waving around through the air to make his point.

I looked at Laksha. She was no longer standing in a attack position at Suki, actually she wasn't even paying any attention to Suki anymore. She had noticed that Katara and I had entered and was sitting a few yards away from us, her tail wrapped neatly over her paws, red streaks in her white fur.

"Ok, so how did it happen?" Katara asked, ignoring his comments about Laksha.

Sokka's eye twitched once, "We were just sitting around here, telling some stories. Toph was telling them what had happened when we were crossing the Serpent's Pass, just getting to the part where we were crossing the river and saw the serpent, that-that thing just leaped up and tried to bite Suki's throat."

He paused, letting that information sink in before he continued. "Suki pulled out her fans and was defending off its attacks, but it managed to sink its teeth into her arm. Suki cried out, then it knocked her fans away and cornered her. Then you came." He said, finishing his tail, clearly calmer.

I ignored how he had called Laksha an it and thing, just because I knew that he was worried about Suki.

Katara was now staring at Laksha, and she was staring back, her eyes light and carefree, much like an airbender's in a way.

Toph just shrugged. "Maybe she just doesn't like Suki, or she can read thoughts or something and something Fan Girl over there thought made her mad." We all stared at her. "What? She's a spirit, spirits have those kinds of freaky space powers."

Laksha stood up and started trotting over towards me. Sokka got into a fighting stance, but one glare from Katara sent him back to his normal standing.

Laksha rubbed her head against my head, asking to be pet. I obeyed, stroking her fur slowly in thought. Why would she attack Suki? Sure, she attacked me when Katara and I first saw her, but why now? She's been here for two weeks.

"I guess that she might be able to use spirit magic, but I don't think any spirit can read minds, Toph." She just shrugged at my stated, obviously not caring.

Suki was slowly moving along the wall now over towards where Zuko and Mai were standing, clearly unnerved by the fox. I glanced down and noticed that Laksha was eyeing Suki in a hostile way.

"Maybe she was just being an animal, like territory reasons?" Katara asked. No one responded.

"Or maybe its just trying to kill all of us!" Sokka declared, throwing his arms up again. Katara glared at him, but he ignored it and continued. "Its just trying to buy your forgiveness so it'll have another chance to strike! For all we know it could be draining our life as we speak!"

"Sokka, stop being so ridiculous!" Katara shouted.

"I'm not being ridiculous, that thing just attacked Suki! For all we know it could attack you next!"

"I'm sure she didn't mean to attack her! I bet she was just angry at you and was trying to get to you without directly hurting you."

"See! You're trying to defend it! It planned this out, knowing you and Aang would save it!"

"She's just a fox, she didn't plan this!"

"It's a spirit- a _knowledge_ spirit! Of course it can plan!"

"Um, you guys?" I ask, trying to stop the fight. They both turn towards me, both saying "What?" at the same time.

"Why don't I just take the fox out of here for now, and you can sort this out? Then she won't overhear your, um, plans." I suggested the last part for Sokka's sake. Katara nods, Sokka seems to be thinking it over for a moment before nodding too.

So I turn on my heal and walk out of the throne room, down the hall towards the gardens. I can hear Laksha's soft padded paws on the stone floors behind me, trotting softly.


	16. 16 A Told Secret

**I really had to think of how I was going to piece this chapter together. I knew what was going to happen, but I didn't know what was going to happen to get it there, or what was going to happen first. So please tell me if I did it ok!**

* * *

Katara

I watch as Aang and that fox walk out of the Throne Room, probably heading outside to enjoy the sunlight. I then turn to look at Suki, who has visibly relaxed now that her threat was gone.

I walk over to her, pulling some water from the air around me, and looked at her wound. It was a deep bite, right on her forearm, but thankfully it missed anything important.

I gently press the water onto her skin, I feel her tense up underneath my grip, then relax as the water begins to glow with a silvery blue light. I walk as her skin begins to knit itself slowly together, the bleeding halting.

She would probably have some scars from the bite, but she would live.

Sokka walks over to us as I finish up, dropping the water. He hugs her, asking over and over again if she was ok. She said she was fine, just a little shocked. Perfectly understandable, if you ask me.

I sigh as I watch Sokka pull Suki down onto the steps to sit, but she obeys anyway. Toph joins them, and Mai just sighs and leaves, clearly bored now that the excitement was over. Zuko walks over to me though.

"Do you have any idea why the fox would do something like this?" He asks, trying to hide his worry, but I can see through it.

"No, not really. She is a spirit though, there has to be a good reason." I state, crossing my arms over my chest. He just nods, knowing by now not to argue with me.

We both look over at the three on the steps, being to far away to hear the conversation, we watch their body movements. "I'm a little afraid that Sokka's going to do something to that fox though." I say, trying not to worry. It was hopeless though.

"I'd have to agree with you. Sokka would do something, and she is a spirit. She could very well kill him." I stiffen at the thought. We have no idea what she's capable of, so its pretty understandable.

"I think I'm going to go find Aang." I say, unnerved at the thought of him alone with her. If she really was trying to kill us, then Aang could be in danger. I turn on my heal without even waiting for a response from Zuko and hurry done the hall in the direction I saw them heading.

* * *

Laksha (The Fox)

I follow the arrow boy as he walks down the silent stone halls towards the royal gardens, as they like to call them. He seems upset. Was it because I had bit that girl?

Well, if he and that waterbender hadn't showed up, I could have finished her. Save her the pain and suffering to come. I can understand why my father thinks that humans can be so blind to the truth. Perhaps they just didn't see the things that I could?

I was a spirit, as arrow boy always said to me. But now he calls me Laksha, I like it better then spirit.

I believe they don't know that I can understand them. I'm smart, I have a brain. So why do they never talk to me directly, well besides arrow boy. If I am to gain their trust, should I call them by their names.

I lick the blood from my teeth, thinking over the idea. Oh right, I was covered in blood. He stops under a tree and lies down on his back, one arm under his head, the other on his stomach.

I sit next to him, then start licking the blood from my fur. I marvel at the spot that we were at. The sun was still at it's highest peak, noon, beating down it's warm rays of golden light on the green grass and trees around us. There was a cool breeze blowing, making the green leaves above my head shift into each other, whispering a sweet song.

How could I have not left that library sooner, the beauty of this world that I had never seen. Sure, I had seen pictures and paintings, read beautiful words of description, but it didn't even come close to compare for what I was seeing now.

My father could be such a fool. Placing his library in the desert, no life for miles on end, just burning hot sand and heat. And to bury it! Take it back to the spirit world, just because one small group of humans wanted to try to use his knowledge to make the world better.

Of course, at the time I didn't know that. At least not all of it. I had overheard them talking of a war, ruthless Fire Nation people trying to burn the world to the ground.

Only a fool can think that a tree can grow on ashes. Only fools know that trees give us life. But if trees were turned to ash, nothing new will grow and the world would die. Considering we are now in the Fire Nation, I believe they have achieved their goal in stopping this fool.

"Why would you attack Suki?" He says suddenly. I jumped, startled out of my thoughts. Suki...the girl I had bitten? "She did nothing wrong, she helped us, you know." He continues. Oh, he didn't expect an answer from me. So I let him continue.

"I think Sokka's going to try to hurt you." I finish my grooming and look and the boy beside me. He was watching me. "You hurt his girlfriend, so he thinks you're out to get us now." He looks back up to the tree leaves.

Some silence follows, a breeze blows softly, making the leaves whisper their song again.

"I know that you probably don't have a clue what I'm talking about, but can you do me a favor and stay by me or Katara until he gets over it?" Pause. "On second thought, he most likely won't get over it. Just stay by one of us at all times." He looks over at me again. The boy has grey eyes, how strange.

I think over what he said as he looks back up into the tree. Then, I snort once, turning my head away slightly at the thought. A human, hurt me?

But apparently the boy heard me, and turns his head to look at me with a questional gleam in his eye. That was when I decided to give him my answer.

'_Fine, but don't you think for a second that I'm afraid of him. I know over 1,495 ways to kill that boy on the spot...Sokka was it?_'

He laughs a little, looking back up at the tree. A few seconds pass and I follow his gaze skywards. Then, out of the corner of my eye I see him shoot up into a sitting position, eyes wide and mouth hanging open slightly.

I look at him and his shocked face, waiting. He airbends himself up and looks down at me. I continue looking in his eyes. He then squats down to my eye level.

"Did you really just talk or am I just not getting enough sleep again?" He asks, clearly trying to keep from panicking.

'_Ah yes. I know very well of those few days. I must say that you do have an active imagination. A lemur and a bison in a sword fight? I must say that that has to be a new one._'

His mouth opens and closes a few times, then he falls backwards a bit until he's sitting again. "You can talk." He states dumbly. "You could understand me that entire time?" I just nod.

He pauses, and I can pretty much hear how fast his brain is working. "Then why did you attack Suki?"

'_That girl that I bit? Well, I was just trying to save that poor boy a heart ache._'

I pause, thinking carefully over my next words.

'_She's just using him. I can clearly see it. Acts don't work on a spirit this old._'

The first part was a lie. I could see she really did like him, but I think it was better then the truth. I still had plenty of time. I believe it was September 7th, so I still had almost 2 months still.

He's silent for a minute, then he falls back onto his back with a huff of frustration. Did he see through my lie? "I find that hard to believe, she risked her life a ton of times to save him."

No, but he wasn't accepting it either. I'll just change the subject.

'_Avatar, am I aloud to call you by your first name?_'

He lifts his head and looks at me, surprised at the question, the earlier topic out of his head. "Yeah, I'd prefer it actually. I hate people calling me 'Avatar Aang'. It makes me feel like I'm just playing a character in a play." His head falls back to the ground again, eyes closed.

I got up and walked over to his side, watching him closely. I gently jabbed my paw into his side. I saw him try to stop a smile from appearing on his face. I smirked, or as close as a fox can get to smirking.

It was then that we both heard a scream.


	17. 17 Misunderstandings

Aang

I felt Laksha poke me in my side. I tried very hard not to smile, she seemed to be like me-childish at heart. I heard a pair on footsteps rapidly making their way towards us, footsteps that I knew very well.

Then, the footsteps stopped right before they entered the garden, where they could see the tree that we were under, and Katara screamed.

I shot upwards in just enough time to see Katara sprinting across the grass towards us. She looked shocked, and she almost tripped. Well, she did, and ended up barreling into me, knocking both of us onto the ground with a hard thud.

I then felt more footsteps, those of our friends, running towards the gardens with my earthbending. They probably heard Katara scream.

As I sat up slowly, trying to tell if anything was seriously hurt. Katara hugged me and I could feel her shaking as she tried not to break down sobbing. "Katara? What's wrong?" I ask, panic filling my voice.

" You! I-I saw you just lying there on the ground, and I couldn't see your chest moving a-and I thought that you were dead! The fox-she was just sitting next to you! I thought she killed you!" She said, her words rushed.

Now that I thought about it, it probably did look like that. "Oh-um. Well, you see..." I start, but then stop, not knowing what to say. "I was just lying down on the grass, and she decided to try to get me up or something." I say, rubbing the back of my neck sheepishly.

She inhales deeply, trying to calm herself down, then she lets go of me.

Just in time for us to see our friends rush into the courtyard. Everyone stopped about 7 or 8 yards from us, but Sokka charged forward and tackled Laksha.

Katara and I both screamed for him to stop when we heard her yelp in pain. I noticed that he had a sword, and had Laksha pinned underneath his knees. Katara quickly shot up and tried to pull her brother off of the white fox.

She was screaming at him to stop as he tried to run the blade into the fox. I got up and tried the help Katara with Sokka, as did Zuko.

We managed to lift him up enough for Laksha to wiggle out from him and she ran towards the tree, circling around it once or twice. Then she stopped and flexed each one of her legs carefully, probably checking for broken bones.

Sokka was still struggling against the three of us, kicking a screaming for us to let him go. I guess that even though he could see everything was fine, he still wanted revenge for what Laksha did to Suki, which brought me back to what she had said.

Suki was just using Sokka.

I honestly couldn't believe it, but why would a spirit lie about something like that? Unless she wanted to see us in pain and was just trying to mess with our lives for entertainment. Old spirits were known to do that, and she did say she was old.

My grip loosened on Sokka's arm for a split second, and that was all it took for him to get free. He yanked his arms away from us and ran towards Laksha again. I saw her ears straighten, and she tensed, but she didn't flee.

Right before Sokka's blade touched her white furred chest, she leapt backwards onto the tree trunk and pushed off of it past Sokka. I have to say that she could move pretty fast for something that was injured still.

Sokka was currently trying to yank his borrowed blade out of the tree, which ad been driven into it when Laksha dodged. Zuko was on him in seconds, pinning him by his shoulders to the ground.

"Sokka! What do you think you're doing?!" Katara screeched, unnerved at what her brother had just tried to do.

"What does it look like? I was trying to save all of you! How could you be so blind to what that thing is doing!" He yelled back, still trying to get out from under Zuko.

"Sokka, she isn't planning anything." I said calmly, hoping that he would just calm down. Fighting never solved anything. Neither does revenge.

Sokka stopped struggling, and Zuko let him up. He dusted himself off before responding, "How would you know?" He snaps at me. "You only ever see the good in everything, ignoring the evil. Giving everyone a second chance. Well guess what Aang, giving that thing a second chance will probably mean someone's death!"

I stiffen, realizing my mistake. Laksha must have seen it too, because she was looking at me, her unique eyes wide, the airbender lightness replaced by fear. She didn't want me to tell them that she could talk.

Sokka continued on, mistaking my silence as an agreement. "See, you can't think of something to say to that! I say that we kill it, so it can't hurt anyone again." He said, crossing his arms.

Katara looked shocked, Zuko looked alarmed, everyone else was to far away for me to see them. "Sokka, killing her isn't the answer!" Katara snapped when she realized that I wasn't going to say anything. I couldn't think of anything to say that wouldn't involve telling them that she can talk.

So instead, I focused my eyes on the creature on trial. She looked terrified.

And torn. She looked very, very torn and scared. Sokka and Katara were still arguing, but I was no longer listening. I was to focused on the moisture that was gathering underneath Laksha's eyes. I didn't know that animals could cry.

The proof was right in front of my though, those were defiantly tears. They were now rolling down into her fur, making it darker and shine.

Apparently Sokka had asked me some, because he was yelling my name. I answered without looking at him, unable to look away from the crying fox 4 feet from me. "Sorry, what?"

He looked annoyed that I hadn't been paying attention, and seemed to get even more annoyed that I wasn't looking at him. "I asked if someone could kill a spirit." He said.

I nodded, "Yeah, I think that you can. The closest anymore had come to killing one was Avatar Kuruk with Koh. Otherwise only another spirit can." I answered distantly, my mind whirling.

There was a few moments of silence then, not even the breeze was blowing.

'_Don't I even get a say in this?_'

A voice whispered. I was amazed at how her voice sounded every time she spoke. It sounded young, like perhaps a 12 year old girl. It was sweet and innocent sounding, even though at the moment you could hear how scared she was.

Katara's mouth fell open, Sokka looked around at the fox, pinning her with a piercing gaze. "YOU CAN TALK?!" He asked, his voice loosing its angry tone.

Laksha was silent, waiting for the answer to her question. It took Sokka a few minutes to realize this. "And no, you don't get a say in it." He said, his voice hesitating on the word 'say'.

I could still see the tears in the white fox's eyes, but it seemed no one else noticed.

'_Well then. When your death is seen then I'll make sure not to inform you._'

She snorts, her cocky self back. Even if she was still crying, she didn't sound it.

"Is that a threat?" Sokka asked, a hard edge in his voice. Laksha just shook her head.

'_Not what I meant. I think I understand now though, so I thank you for this new information._'

She says quietly, her head down like in defeat. "What do you mean by new information?" Katara asks, her voice still containing shock.

Laksha paused at this question, clearly thinking it over carefully. She sat down heavily.

'_Long or short?_'

Sokka didn't even give anyone else time to answer. "Long." Laksha just nods and makes a gesture with her tail telling everyone to come and sit by her. We all do.

We were sitting in a halfmoon kind of shape, gathered around the fox at the head. There was me and Katara, the Toph, Sokka, Suki, and Zuko. Mai hadn't come to see what the scream was about.

'_So I suppose I should start from the beginning then. Let me see here, I believe it started when I was created. By Wan Shi Tong and Tui, the knowledge spirit and the Moon spirit._'


	18. 18 When the World Was Created

**Geeze! This took forever to write, and it's so long! I was thinking I would have to make it two parts! I wasn't expecting that :P Anyway, enjoy my fellow readers, and please review!**

* * *

Laksha's Flashback/Story

_So I suppose I should start from the beginning then. Let me see here, I believe it started when I when I was created. By Wan Shi Tong and Tui, the knowledge spirit and the Moon Spirit._

I breath in sharply, feeling starting to trickle into my body and limbs. I breath out. Then in again, realizing that I needed to do this, otherwise there was a pain in my chest.

I moved my front leg slowly, then I open my eyes and take in these new sights. A girl, who looked to be about 18 or 19, was looking down at me. She had pure white hair, and she seemed to be glowing faintly. She was smiling at me.

_Look! A new spirit is now here. It was success Wan Shi Tong!_

She exclaimed, her lips never moving, but I heard her relaxing voice in my head crystal clear.

"**And? What kind of spirit is she? She is what we wanted?"**

The girl smiles again, this time bigger.

_Much more then what we wanted! She is white, and with the look of one of your knowledge seekers!_

She says. I can hear how excited she was. As I lifted my head and looked at her, she had tears forming in her eyes. Tears of pride.

**"Good, then she must be a knowledge spirit. Like me. She will help me with my library. It is my duty to teach those new things about us and how they can die."**

_Oh, Wan Shi Tong, stop being so bitter! You know as well as I do that they are called humans. I'm also sure that they already know that they can die._

**"Tui, she is going to live with me, and she will come to me when I have enough information for my library to go the Human World."**

She pauses, thinking about how she could change the knowledge spirit's mind.

_Come now, you know that a child needs their mother. She must live with me._

** "Where? In the sky as a star? Where she will never learn anything? She is a knowledge spirit, so she must learn. The more we know, the better we are."**

Tui seemed shocked by his answer. He was right, she lived in the sky, when she was only seen in the dark, full and bright. She knew when she was defeated though.

_I suppose you are right, but you do know that this is one of the only times I will be able to see her in a lone time, no? I have to leave then, I can feel the humans distress that I am gone._

And with that she faded away, never saying one word to the small, scared white fox that was in front of her. The fox could not see Wan Shi Tong, fore he was behind her, and when she noticed his shadow, she screamed.

Wan Shi Tong noticed the small creatures distress and bent down to her.

**"There, there little one. I will not harm you. I suppose an introduction is in order. I am Wan Shi Tong, he who knows ten thousand things. The woman that just left is Tui, the moon spirit. We are your parents, we created you."**

The little fox was no longer scared of the big black owl in front of her, even if she just the size of his beak. No, what scared her the most was his voice, it held no emotion. She wanted Tui to come back, to hear her sweet, soothing voice.

* * *

But she could not see her mother, not for many years to come. it was 23 to be exacted. The little fox had counted.

Over the years, the fox had discovered some things. She was indeed a knowledge spirit, but a special one. One who never forgot anything she ever saw, heard, touched, smelled or tasted. Wan Shi Tong called it an 'all-seeing mind' (they didn't have photographs yet :P)

She discovered many other things, like how if she focused enough, she could see things without really seeing them. Things in the next room, or outside the owl's library. Once, she was even able to see her mother, high in the sky as a white, glowing ball that never fell.

As the fox practiced her skill, she realized another one. It had happened suddenly, and if it weren't for her all-seeing mind, she would never have known. She had been walking towards one of the bookshelves, looking in her mind's eye around the library, when suddenly, she was on the other side of the bookshelf. She could walk through things when she wanted too.

It wasn't until she and her father took the library to the Human World that she discovered her other powers. One was one she didn't even want.

It was the first night that they had been in the Human World, and the fox, who was no longer so little, was sitting outside, looking at the sky. It had changed to a deep, inky black with only the moon hanging in it- for there were no stars at the time.

She was trying to figure out how it had been light, with a moving sun, and now dark, with a moving moon. Then, the world went dark. The fox gave a yelp at the sudden lack of light. The moon was gone.

But in front of her, was Tui. Her mother had come down from the sky to welcome her, to see her daughter. The fox was excited, remembering perfectly what her mother looked like, she leaped from her place on the steps and ran to her mother, who squatted down so she could hug her daughter.

_My little fox, it had been so long._

'_23 years, mother. I am glad to see you again._'

Tui laughed, she did not know about her daughter's spirit powers since she had been in the Human World all that time.

_How is it that you remember that? I doubt that Wan Shi Tong told you about me._

She teased lightly, stroking the white fur on the fox's neck.

'_No, he did not. I remember everything, mother. It is one of my spirit powers. I can also see things in my head that are really happening. I saw you in the sky every human night. I can even see inside the library right now. I can also walk through things, though I am not all that good at it yet._'

The fox said eagerly. Tui listened, tears gathering in her eyes. Her daughter had been watching her, even when Tui hadn't been able to see her daughter in 23 years.

_I am sorry, my daughter. I wish that I could have come. But you see, this planet is round, and the humans can always see me. So I needed to be in the sky at all times. They are probably fretting over themselves right now! Wondering where I am._

The fox thought, knowing that her seeing Tui meant that the humans were terrified. Even though she had never seen a human before, not yet anyway, she felt guilty for doing this to them.

'_Then you should go back. At least now every night you can see me too._'

Tui smiled sadly, this little fox, now full grown, was so selfless. Then Tui came to realize something.

_Did Wan Shi Tong ever give you a name?_

The fox shook her head, he had never given her a name. Anger flashed through Tui's eyes. All this time, and she was never given a name? She stood up and walked into the library, leaving a confused fox out in the dark night. Tui returned minutes later.

_He said that you shall have a name by tomorrow night. You can tell it to me, ok? Even though you can't hear me, if you can see me and speak out loud, then I can hear you._

The fox smiled and nodded, then watched her mother fade away into the night with tears in both their eyes. The moon returned to the black sky, filling it with its silver light once again. So the fox sat outside until the move disappeared over the horizon and watched as the golden light from the sun filled the desert scene. She then went inside to sort out the scrolls that the knowledge seekers had been sent to collect, so they could be sorted within the library for the humans to read.

That night, the fox went outside right as the sun set and the moon began to rise. When it was fully in view, the fox spoke out loud, but her lips never moved. Just like her mother and father spoke.

'_Mother, Wan Shi Tong gave me the name Sati Vidya. It means truthful learning. I would like to only be called Sati though, ok? I wish to not hear the learning in my name, only the truthful. And with my new name, I will make you a promise. I will always to be truthful to humans, unless it would just mean their own destruction. I wish to be helpful to them like you are._'

Sati finished her vow under the dark sky with the silver full moon, her eyes closed in prayer. She then looked up and noticed something different. Every time she had ever seen the moon in her mind's eye, it was always completely full. But now she could see that it was missing a single sliver of it on the right side.

* * *

The night before Sati got her name, it was the last night she had ever seen her mother's spirit form. The next night, when Sati got her name, was when the moon begin her waning and waxing, her phases.

Tui knew that she would only ever get to speak with her daughter twice in eternity, so she begin to hide herself so she could cry. Every new moon, she would cry behind the shelter of darkness she had, letting out her pain and sorrow.

* * *

So Sati lived in the library for my centuries, watching the humans from afar. She heard from another knowledge seeker that Tui and La had given up their immortality and became fish, now living at the North Pole.

Scrolls from bending began coming in not that long after. The humans had learned to manipulate one element. Nations began to form, maps came and changed.

The four Nations. Fire Nation, Air Nomads, Water Tribe (Northern), and the Earth Kingdom. In each some humans could bend their respected elements. Only the Air Nomads had all benders.

Then the lion-turtles started disappearing. Wan Shi Tong blamed the humans for this outrage, and left it to the knowledge seekers and Sati to see to the visiting library.

Almost 1000 years passed, and the knowledge that the lion-turtles were extinct rang through heads for almost 200 years, before they just became a myth that the humans told their children at bed.

Sati felt proud that her mother was the first waterbender, and that she felt honored to have befriended badger-moles, dragons, and air bison. She began to learn.

When groups of Air Nomads came to give their knowledge to the library, she went with the bison and they gave her first hand knowledge on airbending. She then studied the Northern Water Tribe scrolls and watched her mother bend the ocean and water. Every summer, a group of badger-moles passed through the desert, and she watched them earthbend the sand and ground. The dragons even offered to take her away from the desert library to the Fire Nation, and she could be a Fire Spirit for her skill.

They had taught her to bend.

It was only 34 years after she had mastered the elements that the news of the first Avatar came to the library. Sati was amazed as she tore through scroll after scroll on this human, who was actually a spirit. It was first a female Air Nomad. Then a male Water Tribe. Female Earth Kingdom. Male Fire Nation. Then it was a male Air nomad, and the pattern continued, never stopping or breaking.

Sati was in awe of this power the human Avatar had. The Avatar State, how they could bend all 4 elements. At once! She could not do that! She could only bend them one at a time. She had to focus for a full 10 seconds to be able to change her element, and then she couldn't use any of her other powers until she switched back to a non-bender.

It was the time of Avatar Yang Chen when disaster struck the library.

News of war spread quickly into the library, and with it news of how the Earth Kingdom had used the knowledge they had gotten from here to start the war.

Wan Shi Tong was furious.

He threw out all of the humans and animals that were in the library. And then he sunk it all the way into the sand until just the tip of the tallest tower was poking above the surface.

* * *

20 years later, a small group of Air Nomads came down from the top. Wan Shi Tong knew of the Air Nomads, and allowed them into his library. Sati followed them everywhere they went. A young girl and boy, twins, were always petting her.

She loved the feel of their soft hands just breezing over her fur. An airbender's touch. It was her favorite, and she had missed it in those 20 years that the humans had been gone.

The funny thing is, the first time an airbender touched her, she only allowed the airbenders to pet her. It is needless to say that the other humans were quite jealous.

Decades later, news that Avatar Yang Chen died reached them. The new Avatar, Avatar Kuruk, then reached them. He disappeared into the spirit world, never to return when he was only 32. It was then Avatar Kyoshi, who broke the library's recodes for the longest living Avatar, she was 230. She also had the biggest feet of any of them too.

Avatar Roku, who had the same birthday as Prince Sozin, whore later became Firelord Sozin, died at age 70. Buried alive by rock and debris from a volcano on his home island.

The news of the new Avatar, who was supposed to be born as a male Air Nomad, never reached them. 12 years, 11 months, and 9 days after the death of Avatar Roku, a comet passed the planet's atmosphere, just like it had been for almost 1300 years now.

But no more Air Nomads came to the library.

No more people period came to the library. We just sat in the dust in a building buried in sand for almost 87 years after the comet came.

* * *

A young Firebender named Zhao came and asked if he could see his nation's history. He gave them information that was false, but Wan Shi Tong still let him through.

He had told them that the Air Nomads started a war with the world, and that when the comet came the Fire Nation took the chance to end them. There were no more Air Nomads in the world anymore.

Sati had cried for years over the loss.

Wan Shi Tong's anger towards the humans built when Zhao burned all the Fire Nation knowledge that they had.

Sati had also cried because of the danger she knew her mother was in. She had seen Zhao's evil smirk when he read the scroll telling him where Tui and La where located.

13 years later, a knowledge seeker came into the library with something amazing.

It was a wanted posted for an airbender named Aang, who was the Avatar.

Sati was overjoyed for many reasons. One, there was still and airbender alive. Two, the Avatar was alive. Three, the Fire Nation could be stopped. Four, her mother could be saved. And five, she knew that she had to get out of that blasted library buried in the sand.

Her chance came too, only 4 months and 6 days after the wanted poster was brought to the library.

The Avatar had come to the library. He had also brought friends, three of them.

Two were clearly from the Southern Water Tribe, which had formed almost 150 years back, (the Foggy Swamp Tribe formed almost 600 years back) and an Earth Kingdom professor, who clearly just wanted to read the ancient texts.

The Water Tribe boy was trouble, and Sati was afraid the her father would kill him on the spot. He did not.

They were there for almost an hour, when the library became to sink. Sati knew that her father was bringing it back to the Spirit World, but she did not want to go back.

So, she ran. She had switched to her airbending and ran like the wind, running up the walls and out the top tower. There was a sky bison outside, a sky bison! She had heard those had gone into extinction.

She had to ignore her excitment and just ran. She silently thanked the blind earthbender who was holding up the tower, knowing that if she hadn't been it would already be in Spirit World.

* * *

She ran through the desert, hardly resting, using airbending speed to make her trip quicker.

Every night she talked to her mother, begging her to come down, that she needed help. So she traveled to the North Pole.

It took 3 weeks.

She snuck into the Spirit Oasis and sat on the little island. She talked to her mother. Never once getting a response from her, the fox just sat and talked about all that had happened in the thousands upon thousands of years. That fox sat there for almost a week and a half talking until someone came in and found her.

It had been the chief. The fox was currently lying in the water, her muzzle just brushing the fish every time one passed. When he spoke, he startled Sati out of her talking daze and she jumped.

She ran out of the water and used airbending to dry her wet fur, making it shine. Chief Arnook was amazed, he had thought that he had found an air spirit. So he gave her a name.

Tara Vayu. Tara meant star, because her white fur shined like one of the stars in the sky, and Vayu, meaning wind because she was an air spirit.

Upon hearing this new name, Sati tucked it deep into her mind, and fled the oasis.

She then began tracking the last airbender alive on the planet.

When she did find him, she felt proud. Very proud, indeed. So the night that she had found him in the Fire Nation Palace, she looked to the moon, which was full, and told her mother that she was going to help the world, by helping the Avatar return it to the peaceful place that it was before her mother had begun to wax and wan and hid her face.

And three days later, he and a girl left the palace on the sky bison and flew to a stream. She had not meant to attack them, honestly she didn't. She just suddenly felt a hatred towards the Avatar, for leaving the world at the hands of the Fire Nation.

Even though she knew the full story, thanks to another one of her abilities that she didn't particularly like.

There were gapes, of course. Like she didn't know what happened to Princess Yue of the Northern Water Tribe, or why the Avatar was crossing on foot from the desert to Ba Sing Se.

But she knew about his death. About his friends, how he met them. His enemies and their history. She even knew of Monk Gyatso. At one point after meeting him, she wondered if she should use her mind's eye to see into his mind's eye. She could do that, even read thoughts.

She didn't like doing it though, it made her feel like she wasn't her for a few days after. With power comes price, her father said.

Instead, she just waited and listened. Observed the teens and how they acted. Sokka was always following her around, and she always followed the Avatar around, carving his airbender's touch that she had missed those many years.

And then, she was sitting in the Throne Room, listening to when they had crossed the Serpent's Pass. She remembered how it was formed. And then, her cursed ability came to her and showed her something that she was happy and terrified to see.

_She saw herself, but yet it wasn't her. She looked completely different. The only thing that was really the same was her eyes. She saw the her that wasn't her standing in the middle of some forest with Suki, who was pinned to a tree by 6 arrows._

_ Suki was wearing her Kyoshi Warriors uniform, the long, dark sleeves had four arrows in them, stuck deep into the tree. The other two arrows were through the skirt part of the outfit, keeping her left leg pinned._

_ Suki was turned at an angle, and both or her arms were in front of her. It's quite hard to describe how she was stuck. Let's just say her arms were pinned like that other Kyoshi Warriors' arms were when they had found Appa and Azula, Ty Lee, and Mai had attacked them. Now imagine that the knifes that Mai had used were arrows and the girl pinned was Suki. That's how she was now._

_ There was a boy there too, he looked to be about 15 or so. He had an arrow in his hand, one like the ones pinning Suki. He was twirling it carelessly._

_ "So, are you not going to try to stop me?" He asked me, still twirling the arrow._

_ "Why would I not, you're trying to kill my friend!" I had shouted at him, angry flowing through me._

_ "But she was helping Azula, remember? And now she has to die."_

_ Suki was shocked into silence, not knowing what to do. She had never helped Azula, or at least not that she knew of._

_ "That's a lie! You're the one who's helping Azula!" I shout, trying hard to stay where I was standing._

_ He just laughed. He seemed insane, just like Azula._

_ "What? You're not going to kill the liar then? Well, someone here has to die, and it isn't going to be you, and if it isn't going to be me..." He trails off, turning towards Suki. He takes a step towards her. "Then I guess it'll be you."_

_ I shout and scream for him to stop, but he keeps walking forward, ever so slowly. So I do the only thing I can think of._

_ I reach into his mind._

_ I heard his thoughts, felt the arrow in his hand as if it were in my own. I lifted my hand, but his moved instead. I heard his thoughts of alarm, and right when I was about to shove the arrow into his chest, I was suddenly on the ground._

_ A girl was on top of me, she looked to be about 15. She looked familiar, but I couldn't place who she looked like. I heard the sickening sound or the arrow tearing through Suki's throat, and her gurgled screams as the blood poured out of her mouth and down into her lungs._

_ Then, they stopped. I knew that she had drowned on her blood._

_ The boy and the familiar girl both gone, I wasn't sure when they had left. All I knew was that it was nearly impossible to move, to breath. With power comes price, and now I'm paying it._

Sati was suddenly out of the vision, and she bared her teeth in anger. She saw Suki, and lunged at her, hoping to make that horrible vision never to come true the only way she knew how: To kill the main person in it.

* * *

**I realize that this might have been a very confusing chapter, and if you have any question, post them in the comments or PM me about them, and I can have to characters ask them in the next chapter. I already have few in mind because I realize that I didn't fill in some parts, but I don't feel like going back and trying to fit them in. :P Like with the stars, when did they come if she weren't there in the beginning? And with the moon, when the world was still young, she was always full and after she saw her daughter a second time, her pain made her begin to change so she could hide. If that makes any more sense then it did in the story :P**

**And with her abilities, she can only use them one at a time, never two at once. Well, except for the one where she can see stuff in her mind's eye. I also realize that I didn't explain that one very well, either... Well then, its like being able to see stuff that's happening at the same moment that you're in, even if it's on the other side of the planet or in a different world.**

**Any question? XD**


End file.
